There's got to be a morning after
by Billy Rose
Summary: Takes place right after S3 ended. What happened from there? You'll just have to read and find out won't ya? Femslash and a JesseLexa relationship. Complete.
1. Prologue

Disclaimers: I own nothing (not the show or the title of the fic, which I believe is a song that got stuck in my head when I was watching Kung Pow: Enter the Fist -which I highly reccommend for anyone who loves hillarious dubbing spoofy goodness:) ) **Spoliers** for series finale "The Assault."

A/N: Ok, the title is cheesy, I know but it goes with the theme of the story which takes place right after Season 3 ended. This is what they do according to me. If people seem OOC, sorry about that but I'm writing them this way for the sake of the plot. This is the Prologue (obviously) and let me know if you think I should continue this or not. I'll wait for like 2 or 3 reviews before posting another chapter but be warned -I've written a good amount of this already and ran into writer's block at a later chapter so when we get there it might be a while before I post that one. Please note that I've been writing this during accounting (I don't need to pay attention during then so I just write the entire hour and a half) so if this is no good, that's part of the reason why. Hmm... I think that's about all I have to say except RR now please. :)

--

The faint sounds of explosions still rang through the air as the members of Mutant X pushed themselves away from the Dominion.

They were exhausted, broken, and lost -both without a place to go and someone to guide them to the next step.

They argued. Stranded without hope, a place to call home or even a place to seek refuge from the retaliation they were sure to receive from what was left of Dominion only added to the tension thick atmosphere.

Pausing to catch their breath while they still had the cover of night, they grew silent, each contemplating what they thought they should do. After a few moments of this silence it was broken by the soft observation of the shorter man with long wavy hair.

"We have no home. No money. We have nothing left..." He paused before he exploded, "And no god**damn** idea how to save Adam!" The others were startled by the sudden outburst, momentarily losing their trains of thought. They watched as he stomped over to a walk, frustration and anger laced with complete desperation.

He placed his hand against it while trying to calm himself down. One of the women moved for the first time since they stopped but her approach was halted by the shake of the darker man's head. The message was clear: give him some time. Reluctantly she stayed put while the other molecular regained his composure.

Again it was silent save for the deep breathing of the blonde haired man. A few moments more and he straightened up, facing the rest of the team. Lexa stood across from him, watching him with concerned eyes. Brennan was staring off toward the plume of smoke that showed them just how far away Dominion was. Shalimar just stared at the ground, still lost in thought.

The short man sighed. Someone had to lead. It might as well be him.

"We need a plan." No one besides Lexa seemed to pay him any sort of mind. His jaw clenched before he continued. "We need to think. Get ourselves back together." Shalimar just glanced at him while Brennan just tilted his head sideways to get Jesse in his peripheral view. "There is no way we can help Adam if we don't pull ourselves together." All eyes were on him now.

"So what do you suppose we do?" Shalimar asked absently.

"I don't know..." Jesse's shoulders slumped slightly. Silence weighed heavy on them before Brennan spoke up.

"What can we do? You're right. We have nothing. And there's nothing we can do until that changes." They looked at him startled -both at how defeated he sounded and at the fact that he had a point. Shal stood up and looked at him with a weary expression.

"What... What are you saying Bren?" She forced out hesitantly, afraid to hear his answer.

He gave her an apologetic look before speaking. "I'm saying that until we're ready, maybe we'd be safer if we split up." Shalimar's face held a look of betrayal before she exploded at him.

"How could you even **suggest **that! I thought that after... I thought we'd be together!"

"And what about Adam? Are we just supposed to leave him with them?" Jesse demanded of Brennan. Lexa remained silent for a momentbut nodded in agreement.

"Jesse... Brennan's right." Her face became pained at the thought of not seeing Jesse -or any of them for that matter -again for possibly years. "If we go in now or even soon, we'll be captured, experimented on and eventually killed. We wouldn't stand a chance."

Shalimar looked up with a resolved look on her face. "Then why are we just standing around? If we're going to run from them we might as well start now." She turned to go but Jesse's cry of, "Wait!" stopped her. She looked at him expectantly.

"Let's make it official then. We all go our own ways. We don't speak, we don't meet, hell we don't even** think **of each other until we're ready to save Adam and be a team again. Agreed?" He shoved his hand out in front of him. After a few silent moments Brennan stepped up and put his hand on Jesse's.

"Agreed...," he whispered sadly.

"Agreed," Lexa said with a faraway look in her eyes.

They all turned to Shalimar who still stood away from them.

"C'mon Shal. You know it's for the best...," Lexa pleaded with her. Locking eyes with her Shalimar stepped forward and placed her hand on theirs.

"Agreed." They looked at their hands for a moment before dropping them simultaneously and turning away from Dominion once again. At the first city they found they said their goodbyes -howevershort and awkwardthey were -and walked away, all aware that they may never be able to see the others again.


	2. Chapter 1 Part 1

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys. :) I know this one is possibly shorter than the other one, but I'll make up for that in the next couple of chapters I hope. Also, this is labeled part one because I needed to get the timing right so I split the next two chapters and this one into two to make it all timed correctly.

It was all but silent in the spacious building. The only real sounds were the constant hum of the fluorescent lights, the occasional clanking of the heater turning itself on, and the quiet sounds of jazz being piped over the speakers throughout the place.

But to Jesse Kilmartin -who now called himself Devon Christophson -this was all just background noise. For the past four years he'd been here re-creating Mutant X from the ground up. It hadn't been easy.

After splitting up in that small town he caught a bus to Baltimore and stayed with friends up there. He got a job a few weeks after that as a computer programmer and was currently one of the four people on the list that could get him a partnership in the firm.

The position didn't matter to him though -nor did the fancy suits, flashy cars or even the seemingly endless stream of babes lined up to hang on his arm. All he cared about was the free use of the company's resources and the handsome salary they paid him.

It would have been a lot more difficult if he had to do it all himself. He never would have gotten as far as he has if it hadn't been for them. He silently thanked Adam for teaching him as well as he did.

The building he was currently owned was an old abandoned looking warehouse outside of town. He had fortified it against all possible attacks -mutant and non mutant alike.

The filthy, broken looking windows were bullet -proofed. The doors sound -proofed and if the off chance of a breaching occurred, steel doors descended from the ceiling. If the intruder got through that a blast proof door rose from the floor, effectively isolating them. Only a moron would try to actually blow it up -they'd only succeed in exploding themselves.

An explosion would also rock against a motion sensor that would immediately trigger a clear, plexi-glass three -inch thick wall to come out of the wall. A closed feed camera would track their progress and once they touched the wall the trap would spring and knockout gas would be released into the sealed off space.

The other traps weren't even necessary as no one had ever gotten past the blast doors but they were still there, ready to be activated at a moments notice.

Jesse also had many exits of escape. All the walls had mild electrical currents running through them to prevent moleculars from phasing through the walls -only one spot didn't have the currents so Jesse could just pass through and be on his merry way. The roof had a loose panel he could work out of the way. There was even a trap door that led to a series of tunnels only he knew the way out of -which was to phase at the right dead end. Phase through the wrong one and you'd have to walk miles through dirt.

Jesse leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. The background noise came to the fore as he focused his hearing. It was too silent in his mind. That didn't matter though.

For the past week he'd been going over everything again and again. Checking booby traps, making back -up copies of files, practicing escape routes, restocking food and water supplies in case of a siege, etc. Glancing around him now he let out a shaky breath before smiling in satisfaction.

_'We're ready,'_ he thought to himself.

He leaned forward and brought up another file on the computer. He faltered slightly before he got his composure back and started it up. A map of the earth shone in a bluish tint across the screen. His index finger hovered tremblingly as second thoughts entered his mind but before he gave into them he clicked the activation button. Instantly red lights flashed on the screen in various parts of the United States.

One shone in California -one of Mutant X had be come a teacher in a martial arts dojo there. Another was closer to him in New York City -on of his friends had gone back on bad habits. A third showed his location and he noted gladly that his com -ring blinked in response to the signal.

That was when he noted the other two dots. Frowning, he zoomed the map in further.

One he knew was Lexa -he'd visited often enough to know it was her. But the other... It couldn't be Adam, Jesse knew that much. But then if it wasn't him, who could it be?  
The dot began to fade and he scrambled to write down the address before it disappeared completely. He began tapping at the keyboard, trying to get the signal back but it was no use. All he knew about it was that it was near Shalimar, just slightly north.

He shrugged before leaning back again. It would be just another thing to do when the rest of the team arrived to finally rescue Adam. His eyes closed in content as he imagined being a team again while mentally preparing himself for the next step -the blinking had just been a heads -up.

He wrote "Phase one completed: 12:30 am EST. Phase two will begin shortly," before shutting down the computer and grabbing his briefcase. Jesse pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked his Jaguar F-Type, tossing his briefcase onto the backseat. Tonight he didn't feel guilty about leaving early -the preparation was finally completed. All he could do now was wait -and getting some sleep before tomorrow's board meeting wasn't a bad idea either.


	3. Chapter 2 Part 1

A/N: That little square thing in front of the BM was a lightning bolt when I typed this up. Again, thanks a bunch for the reviews.

Smoke hung heavy in the shady bar as a man wearing a long brown trench coat forged his way through the gruff crowds. He felt uneasy in here, as though any one of these cutthroats would either kill him just to fence the Rolex on his wrist or to pick from his pocket the Gucci wallet that rested within them. He again wondered why he was here before spotting the reason.

Against the back wall, dressed in leather pants and a beautiful silk shirt sat Brennan "The Spark" Mulwray. He appeared on the scene about four years ago and since then had become one of the most successful car thief in New York City. His unique method of taking the most 'secure' vehicles had earned him his nickname. You could ask him to get any car -no matter how electronically protected it was -and he would get it for you for a small percentage of the price it'd bring in.

And that was why he was here. All of the things Steven Coltz had -the money, the fancy apartment, the art collection worthy of a museum. None of it was worth it without the social status to back it up.

That's why he's here after all. He needed the most expensive, rare and over all **fast** car he could get and the sooner the better.

Approaching the table he nearly bumped into a skinhead playing pool behind him. The skinhead sneered and Steven scuttled towards Mulwray, who had already noticed him coming.

Clearing his throat nervously Steven plopped down onto the booth's leather seat. Brennan raised an amused eyebrow at him before looking out at the crowd once more. This only served to make Steven more nervous. After about five minutes of being ignored like this he stood up to leave.

A hand on his arm halted him and he turned to find it attached to the elemental. He only held on for a moment before shoving Steven roughly away. Steven stumbled, bumping into the skinhead as he did so. The bald man cursed in rage while his buddies howled in laughter.

Steven bolted away quickly, not stopping until he was outside again. He shoved his hands angrily into his pockets but was startled at finding something in his left one. It was a business card.

12:10 -My garage

**BM**

Steven smiled before puling out his cell phone and calling a cab.

* * *

Brennan leaned against the back of his chop shop/garage with a sigh, pulling his jacked around him tighter against the cold wind. The street was deserted and dark, the only light coming from the street lamp overhead. 

A loud crash sounded behind him and he turned, telsa coil at the ready. A can rolled into his foot and a stray cat stepped away from the toppled garbage can. Brennan smiled and the electricity faded from his fingers.

"Come here little guy." Brennan crouched down and picked up the skinny black cat with the matted hair. "Let's get you inside where its warm, ok?"

The cat merely looked at him with hooded golden eyes and Brennan was oddly reminded of Shalimar's wild gaze.

Brennan turned and pushed open the back door of the garage, taking the stairs to his apartment above the place. He set the cat down on the table and it backed away from him with wary eyes. Brennan shrugged in response before returning to his refrigerator and pulling out his coffee cream after discovering he didn't have milk. Setting it down on the counter Bren opened a cupboard and retrieved a bowl. After filling it halfway with the cream he put it in the microwave for about 45 seconds before opening another drawer and fishing out a an opener. When the microwave beeped he pulled the cream out and set it on the counter to cool before opening a cupboard and grabbing a can of tuna. He used the can opener to get the lid off and dumped the contents into another bowl. Brennan glanced and the clock and saw it was almost time to meet the up -and -coming yuppie from the bar. He picked up the bowls and set them in front of the cat before hurrying down the stairs.

He paused to catch his breath and -at exactly 12:10 -pushed the door open, startling the man in the trench coat. Brennan's face became void of emotions as he leaned against the brick wall of the garage. The other man waited patiently while Brennan pulled a cigarette from the pack he kept in his pocket and lit up.

"Want one?" Brennan asked, offering the pack to the other man.

"No, I'm fine." Brennan shrugged.

"Don't blame ya. They're awful -but great for atmosphere." Brennan grinned and the other man laughed weakly.

A few moments later Steven spoke up. "I need you to do something for me." Brennan waited for him to continue. "I can pay whatever you need. Half now, half after you deliver."

Brennan blew out a cloud of smoke in exasperation. "That's a given. What do you need?"

"Uh... Well... You see I'm not very popular on the scene-"

"What. Do. You. Need?" Steven took a deep breath before speaking.

"I need a car that'll get me noticed. Something... Something expensive. And fast." Brennan nodded as if this were expected.

"Anything else?"

"Uh... Well... Preferably red. With a CD changer too."

"I'll find something an if you need red -I'll repaint it for an extra two hundred." Steven nodded eagerly before reaching into his pants pocket and pulling out a business car with his phone number on it.

"Call me when its ready." He turned to go and Brennan cleared his throat loudly. "Oh, right." Reaching into his pocket he pulled out $10,000 and gave it to Brennan. "Half now, half later." Brennan nodded and dropped his cigarette to the ground, crushing it under his shoe.

After Steven was in his cab Brennan made a little fist pumping action and went back into his apartment to find to empty bowls and the cat purring contentedly on the table. Brennan smiled at the sight and made a mental note to take it to the vet and buy it some things -he'd decided to keep it. It'd give him something to think about besides work.

Brennan snatched the hand towel from the counter top and placed it on the cat before walking to his bedroom. He tossed his coat onto a chair before pulling his shirt off and -after smelling it -wrinkled his nose and tossed it into the pile for washing. Brennan then changed into pajama pants and walked sleepily into the bathroom to brush his teeth. The elemental yawned as he climbed under the covers, taking off his com ring and watch as he did so.

He turned to face the nightstand and as he closed his eyes the com -ring in his jewelry dish blinked briefly. His eyes snapped back open and he snatched it up from the dish.

He waited for it to blink again for and a half hour later it still hadn't. Brennan slipped it onto his finger and fell into a sleep of blissful memories with the team.


	4. Chapter 3, Part 1

Disclaimer: The restaurant and the dojo are made up.

AN: This is easily the longest chapter so far. I had to redo it completely and if something doesn't make sense because of that, let me know and I'll do my best to explain. :) As for my OFC, I'm thinking she'll look like... Rose McGowan during the fifth season of Charmed. Her hair then wasn't as annoying a change as it is now.(I prefer her with her hair at the beginning of the show.)

Shalimar lay purring with her head resting on and arms wrapped around her lover. A chill breeze blew through the open window and Shalimar felt the woman in her arms shiver. Shalimar smiled and pulled the covers up around her exposed shoulder before planting a kiss on the back of her neck. The other woman smiled in her sleep and Shalimar buried her face in her hair with a smile of her own.

A feeling of contentment washed over Shalimar -every day since they met 4 years ago had been one moment like this after another. Moments where they didn't have to worry, didn't have to think about work, bills or even whether they'd been discovered as new mutants at work. Shalimar felt the other woman snuggle closer to her and she pulled her tightly to her before falling asleep moments later.

* * *

Four years ago next week they had met. Shalimar had flown to San Francisco, changed her name to Callie Parks and had gotten a job as a Tai Chi instructor at the dojo a few blocks away from her current apartment. One day a colleague had invited her to lunch and -since her schedule had been once again changed by Barry, who owned the place -she had agreed.

After they were seated and ordered their drinks, Shalimar took to glancing around at the various items covering the walls of the seventies nostalgia diner. "So what's good here?" she asked Brian when she could tear her eyes away from a rather large tribute to the movie Jaws.

"Everything basically. Although I'd be careful with anything too complicated." Shalimar laughed lightly at that and decided to stick to a salad.

The bell over the entrance rung and Shalimar glanced as a familiar laugh reached her ears. A woman had just entered the restaurant with shoulder length and deep reddish color hair along with a shorter, plainer woman dressed in a smart looking suit. Shalimar couldn't take her eyes from the taller woman though. She hadn't felt this way since... She shook the thought from her head.

Her salad arrived just after her drink and since she had already finished it she asked for another. Brian's eyes sparkled at her from across the table.

"What's up with you Cal? You look like you've seen a ghost." He looked behind Shalimar. "Ooooh, that's definitely not Casper but I'd want to be haunted by her any day." He licked his lips slowly and Shalimar shook her head at him.

"Wishful thinking will get you nowhere Bri."

"But she's looking this way -has been since she sat down. She totally digs me." Shalimar turned her head slightly and caught the other woman's gaze. Their eyes burned into each other before Brian started his horrible attempts at flirting with her. Shalimar turned away in embarrassment and started in on her salad. Brian suddenly got the idea that his flirting was paying off and excused himself to talk to the woman. Shalimar rolled her eyes at him and sipped her Long Island ice tea thoughtfully and turned down the waiter's offer of another -she still had a class that afternoon.

Finally Brian came back with a satisfied grin on his face and started devouring his hamburger with gusto. Shal tried not to be too disgusted with him but failed miserably. "Would you like a napkin or would you eat that too?" He looked up at her confused before quickly wiping mayonnaise from his chin and taking a sip of his beer.

"Sorry... Not used to eating with someone."

"I can see why." Shalimar muttered jokingly at him. He smirked self deprecatingly at her before clearing his throat.

"That woman over there, names Selene. Says she'll stop by the dojo for a class one of these days." He smiled proudly. "I always rake in the hotties don't I?" She shook her head at him in slight disbelief.

_'Oh what were you thinking? That she was looking at you? Get real. She's straight, you're bi. Get over it.'_ With these little pep talks it was a wonder why Shal didn't teach the weight loss group.

They stood to leave after a while and, after looking back at Selene, headed back to work. Shalimar didn't expect to see her ever again. The women that Brian usually hit on always made false promises. So it was a shock when -after hitting the showers after a class -Shalimar literally bumped into her. The woman's scent was vaguely familiar, but the smell of her lilac shampoo made Shalimar decide she really didn't know her. Just a coincidence.

"Oh hey, didn't see ya there. Sorry." Shalimar steadied her and as her hand came into contact with Selene's bare elbow a spark of electricity seemed to pass between them. Shalimar's stomach flipped.

"Its ok, my fault." They stood there for a bit more before laughing at themselves. "Oh forgive me, I'm Selene, I'm here to see Brian?" Shal's good mood deflated just a tiny bit.

"Oh yeah, he's finishing up in the multi-purpose room. Down to the end of the hall, turn right and its hard to miss. Big rice paper walls and bamboo floors." She nodded as she listened to Shalimar.

"I saw you today, you were with him at the restaurant. I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."  
"It's Callie, Callie Parks. I teach Tai Chi and whatever else they throw at me." Shalimar smiled lopsidedly at her before footsteps sounded a ways down the hall.

"Hey! Didn't expect to see you this soon." Brian smiled widely at Selene as he approached. Shal blanched as the smell of sweat mixed with too-sweet cologne filled her nose.

"I should be going now. Those bills aren't going to pay themselves." Shalimar waved good bye to them before scurrying away from the stink that was Brian. He shrugged and Callie put her hand on his chest as he was going to try flirting again.

"Yanno, I think I'll take a class here. That way I'll be able to see you before you work up a sweat." Her nose wrinkled and he smiled apologetically.

"Hey maybe we can catch some dinner after this? I'll only be a minute in the shower." She nodded after a slight hesitation and he grinned. "Ok, be back in a flash." He ducked into the showers and she wandered to the front desk.

"Hey, I was wondering if I could sign up for something?" The guy behind the desk smiled at her.

"Sure you can. Have anything in mind?"

"Martial arts. The one taught by Brian. And..." She paused for a bit. "Tai Chi."

* * *

The weeks passed by blissfully. Shalimar had been -to say the least -surprised when Selene stopped into her class the next week, and even more surprised when she was always the first to volunteer for demonstrations. Surprised -but not disappointed. Selene was hot and the fact that she was letting Shal invade her personal space all the time was a treat Shal reveled in and she always used the opportunity to flirt with her, despite part of her demanding she stop -_'This isn't Her!'_; part of her screaming she was straight, and instead choosing to listen to the part of herself that was telling her to just go for it.

They had become good friends too. They went shopping together, clubbing together. Hell Selene even dragged her along with her and Brian on their dates for some reason. Shalimar didn't mind though. She'd become oddly possessive of the redhead.

After a few more weeks of that Selene showed up at Shalimar's door late one night after a spontaneous date with Brian. She was crying so Shalimar -ignoring the fact that she was only half dressed and half awake -pulled her into her arms immediately, whispering comforting meaningless words into her ear.

She stroked Selene's hair softly and the shorter woman calmed down some. Shalimar still held her and after a while Selene placed a kiss at the base of Shal's neck. The feral stiffened immediately before calming down.

"Selene?" She lifted her head to look at her before kissing Shalimar passionately. After a few endless moments she pulled back, placing kisses on a stunned blonde's jaw. Shalimar found the will to speak as the redhead moved down her neck, pausing to suck lightly on her pulse as she did. "Selene? What about Brian? I thought..." Shalimar cut herself off with a moan as the redhead bit her softly on her collarbone.

"I thought it was obvious Cal. The class," she licked the slightly red spot on Shal's collarbone, "the times we hung out," Shalimar let out another moan as Selene licked her earlobe lightly, "I even took you on our dates to show you nothing was happening." Shal whimpered as Selene pulled away. "But if you don't want me-" Shal cut her off with a demanding kiss.

* * *

Needless to say Brian was pissed, but he got over it eventually. He and Shalimar weren't just co workers, they were best friends too. If he lost her he'd be spending many a lunch hour alone.

Shalimar and Selene had decided to go slow -despite the fact that they had already made love many times the night she had broken up with Brian. It was a year before they had moved in together and they had been happy with each other ever since.

* * *

The shrill buzzing of an alarm clock shattered the silence and both women groaned as they woke up.

"Morning.." Selene muttered. Shalimar merely grunted a form of greeting making Selene smile at how cute it was too see how grumpy the feral was first thing in the morning.

After going through their morning routine -which consisted of showering followed by arguing the nutritional benefits of pop tarts versus toaster strudel and finally settling on orange juice and cereal -they headed off to work. During their lunch break they'd call the other and they'd either settle for just chatting or meeting for lunch, depending on the day. Today, Brian had gotten arrested for getting into a fight with a barfly at the place he ate at so Shalimar called Selene to tell her she wouldn't be home until later that night. Selene had laughed at Brian's plight, used to the man's annoying nature and the consequences thereof.

So now Shalimar was walking home tiredly, once again missing her motorcycle that was destroyed with Sanctuary and Selene was picking up various magazines she usually left lying around. Selene bent forward to pick up a copy of People when her necklace -which was just a silver chain with a ring on it -fell out from under her shirt. She frowned and went to put it under her shirt when -shock of all shocks -it blinked at her. She froze.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

Shalimar began to jog home when rain started to fall from the sky. She raised her hand to cover her eyes and nearly shrieked when it blinked at her. She was so startled she forgot she was standing in the middle of the street until a car honked angrily at her. She rushed to the other side of the street and slowed her pace.

The blinking couldn't have been an accident and she was reminded that she'd never been completely honest with Selene. They'd been together for a long time and she had yet to tell her anything about being a feral, Mutant X, or even about Emma. _'Emma...' _That name still tore at her heart and she let a few tears slip out, mixing casually with the rain. Glancing at her watch, she saw it was 9:37 already and she angrily wiped at her eyes before heading home.

* * *

Selene hurried into the kitchen. Whoever sent the signal out could trace her on it and that was so not was she needed right then. She opened cupboard after cupboard, drawer after drawer until she found the tin foil. She yanked off her necklace and wrapped it in the foil, hoping that would stop the signal. The door banged open and she sighed in relief when Shalimar burst in, dripping wet.

_'I wonder if she got it too...'_ She shook her head of the thoughts and laughed as Shal shook her head to get the water off her hair.

"Let me get you a towel hun." Shal smiled appreciatively at her with a faraway look in her eyes.

_'She must've gotten it too..'_ When she came back Shalimar pulled Selene to her and kissed her playfully. Selene responded by throwing the towel on Shal's still soaked head and walking off to the bedroom to wait for the feral so they could play for real.


	5. Chapter 4 Part 1

**A/N**: I had originally written Lexa as having died via the expiration date thing (yanno, every mutant has a shelf life and all that good stuff) but then decided what the hell, she's in. Also, Kodak D-76 is apparently a film developing.. thing. I looked it up on the net so if thats total bull, sorry. I don't know much about photography. Also, for Jake lets go with... William Gregory Lee. But in Dante's Cove, the new show on Here! (I've heard it was good- Buffy meets The O.C.) If you don't know what that looks like and want to, check out or search on google.

-

Lexa groaned out loud as she fell onto her bed face first. It had been a long day. As if running out of the Kodak D-76 she loved wasn't bad enough, several of the models at the photo shoot had gotten food poisoning from the appetizer bar. The agency that owned the studio was already filing a lawsuit with the caterer but the shoot was going to be postponed which meant her schedule would become even more strained than it was.

The bedroom door opened behind her and Jake poked his head in at her. "Rough day at the office?" Lexa mumbled something into her pillow. "What was that?"

She lifted her head off the pillow and turned to look at him. "I said, 'That's an understatement.'" She reburied her head in her pillow while Jake sat on the bed next to her. He placed his hands on her neck and she smiled contentedly as he worked the knots out of her tense shoulders.

Lexa was still a little amazed at how comfortable they were with each other. They'd met years ago and they instantly felt a connection. Jake a tall and muscular with warm brown eyes and pitch black hair. He had the kind of personality many women sought for. That, plus his killer smile and hefty salary didn't hurt either.

"So what happened?"

"Hmm? Oh, right. We tried a new caterer today and nearly five minutes into the shoot everyone rushes off to the bathroom. Every model got food poisoning. Can you believe it? Every single one. And so it's rescheduled now. Then I come home to try and develop the Glamour shoot -and I'm out of developer."

"Totally out?" Lexa nodded. "Wow." She moved to get up but he pushed her down easily. "Ok look Lex, why don't you relax for a bit. I'm going out tonight so I'll pick it up on my way back. Ok?" Lexa flipped over with a teasing grin.

"Goin out huh? With Dooooooooooug?" she sing -songed. He blushed an amusing shade of red before standing up for inspection.

"How do I look?" Lexa nodded approvingly at his outfit and he smiled widely at her. He leaned down and hugged her before heading to the door. "I'll see you later then ok Lex?" She shooed him out playfully before standing up and walking to the bathroom. Inspecting herself in the mirror she sighed at the slightly visible lines under her eyes.

_'Maybe I do need a break...' _She bent to turn the water on in the bathtub before walking back into the room to gather some bed clothes and a robe and set them on the counter near the sink.

As soon as she had the tub filled she slipped into it, sighing in content. The only time she allowed herself to think these days was in the tub. The quiet atmosphere and warm water would always bathe her in a comforting embrace. Just like being in Jesse's arms always made her feel safe and warm.

She smiled and willingly followed that train of thought. After they had split up in that town she had gone invisible and slipped onto a bus heading for Maine. When she got there she rented a hotel room and got a job as a photographer for a newspaper. Photography was the perfect thing for her to do since she could alter the lighting to get the right shot every time with just a flick of her wrist. She started off at the newspaper but soon she received an offer she ditched it and was hired at Soul, the agency she now worked for.

After some heckling by her boss she decided to look for an apartment -which was how she met Jake. Jake needed a roommate and when they met they just clicked. She had moved in with him soon after that.

About a year later Jesse had breezed into town. He was working with some computer company and needed pictures for some ads. As soon as they saw each other everything came rushing back.

Lexa fought the urge to grab him up and kiss him forever when she saw him, and it was obvious he was doing the same. They had flirted openly though, and on the night before he left to Baltimore she invited him over for dinner. It was perfect -candlelight, wine, the fanciest thing she could think to make for the meal. Then Jake walked in.

Jesse's expression was somewhere between hurt and jealousy. He had stood up abruptly and grabbed his jacket on his way to the door. Jake had stopped him there with a smile and a handshake. The next thing he said broke whatever idea Jesse had gotten into his head.

"Lexa how **dare **you not tell me how cute this Devon is! I'm positively hurt." He placed a hand on his chest dramatically and Lexa had burst into laughter.

"Sorry Jake. Uh, Jake, this is Devon. Devon, this is Jake, my roommate." Jesse shook his hand and apologized. They'd become good friends ever since.

Suddenly the phone rang and Lexa jumped slightly. She sighed in annoyance before puling the drain plug out of the tub and letting the water swirl down the drain.

_'Now what...'_ A glance at the clock showed it was almost 12:30 and as soon as she dried herself off she slipped into her robe. She moved to answer the phone, cursing whoever was calling silently as she did so.

"Hello?"

"Miss Pierce? It's Larry. The models' managers' from today's shoot have decided on next week for the shoot..." Lexa tuned him out when her com -ring blinked.

"Ah, look Harry-"

"Larry."

"-Larry, I'm taking next week off. Personal reasons."

"Oh, I see. Well I'll speak with them to reschedule but I don't think they'll be happy about this."

"I know I know but I've been working around the clock lately and if I don't slow down soon I'll scream." Larry sighed.

"Fine fine, I'll deal with it."

"Thanks Gary."

"It's Lar-" Lexa hung up on him.

_'And so it begins...,'_ she thought absently as she twisted the ring around on her finger. Her and Jesse had spoken often enough for her to know that it'd all be going down soon. She picked the phone back up and set about clearing her schedule for the next week or so.


	6. Chapter 1 Part 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews every body :) The lyrics are from the song "London Calling" by the Clash which means I don't own them unfortunately. Good song though. Anyways, enjoy. :)

-

"Congrats on that promotion Devon. Glad that prick Pete didn't get it," Craig said to Jesse, leaning on him drunkenly as he did so. Jesse laughed at Craig's drunk state.

"Man, weren't you supposed to be the designated driver?" He waved his hand in a dismissive manner and Jesse sighed before slapping Craig on the back. "All right, I'll be the DD tonight. But this time bring a barf bag will ya?" Craig nodded woozily and Jesse knew he'd be getting his car detailed tomorrow.

"Dude dude dude... Check out that honey by the bar, eh? She fiiiiiiiine or what Dev?" Jesse shrugged.

"She's alright I guess."

"Dev man she's totally checkin' you out! Go talk to her man, she wants you bad man."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I want her." An image formed in his head of Lexa smiling beautifully at him and he smiled somewhat goofily. Craig wasn't looking so hot all of the sudden and Jesse helped the other man to the bathroom.

_'The less in my car the better...,'_ Jesse thought as his friend heaved into the toilet violently.

* * *

"Oh man... I'm never drinking again..." Jesse sighed. He always said that and yet here they were every Saturday night.

"I'd settle for you not drinking for the rest of the weekend Craig." The dark haired man nodded stupidly before opening the door to his apartment and waving goodbye to Jesse.

Jesse hopped down the stairs whistling. He felt like singing aloud actually. Today Step Two would be put into action.

* * *

Jesse hummed good-naturedly as he drove, an old song by The Clash caught in his head. He flipped on the radio and sang along with it until he reached the warehouse. He pushed a button under the steering wheel with his knee and the underground garage opened instantly.

Jesse walked through the various passages until he was in the control room. He pulled off his jacket and tossed it onto one of the recliners in a care-free manner.

Jesse pushed the button to start up the computer and flipped his stereo on absently.

_London calling to the faraway towns_

_Now war is declared, and battle come down_

_London calling to the underworld_

_Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls_

His head bobbed up and down with the tune as the computer continued to boot up. A dialogue box popped up and Jesse entered the password jauntily, hitting a key with every word of the song. The box closed and the desktop showed up.

_London calling, now don't look to us_

_Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust_

_London calling, see we ain't got no swing_

_'Cept for the ring of that truncheon thing_

The map popped up again and four dots shone this time, the fifth still offline. Jesse sighed but shrugged it off. _'All thinks in due time...'_

He tapped a few keys and the satellite zoomed in on the locations. The cursor turned into an hour glass but Jesse didn't mind. It was only doing its job after all.

_The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in_

_Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin_

_Engines stop running, but I have no fear_

_'Cause London is drowning, and I live by the river_

Another dialogue box popped up under each location and Jesse wrote down the information. He closed the map and shut down the computer before clicking off the radio.

The molecular walked into the living room area and sat down on the recliner opposite the one he had thrown his jacket on that sat on the other side of the love seat sofa. Lifting the phone from its cradle, he glanced over the information in his hand. He punched the first number in and got an answering machine message:

Hey, you've reached Sparky's Specialty garage. If you leave your name, number and the problemwith your vehicle, I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Jesse sighed before leaving a message, "Devon Christophson, 243-555-4132. My problem is.. I've misplaced my **Kane**. Call me ASAP."

Though Jesse was disappointed he'd missed Brennan he still had high hopes as he dialed the next number. Moments later a male voice answered.

"Serene Dragon Dojo, this is Jared how can I help you?"

"Uh... Hi. Can you tell Shalimar she has a call?"

"Sir I'm afraid we can't page customers unless its an emergency."

"Oh, she's an instructor though."

"An instructor? I'm sorry sir but none of the instructors here go by that name. Are you sure you've got the right dojo?" Jesse frowned slightly before realizing Shalimar had changed her name.

_'Good girl Shal...,'_ he thought with pride that his 'sister' had made that move.

"Actually, you might be right. What classes you got there? I've been meaning to join something for a while now."

"But mister..."

"Christophson. Devon Christophson."

"Ok. Mr. Christophson, wouldn't you rather join your friend's dojo?"

"Yours is closer. What classes do you have."

"Well... we have Karate, Kickboxing, Taekwondo, Tai Chi-"

Jesse jumped at that. He knew Shalimar had often practiced with Emma years ago -maybe she taught it now. "I like that. Could you tell me about the instructor? Don't want to join a class that has one of them 'push push push' types, yanno?" Jesse chuckled lightly at the end and the man laughed out loud.

"Nah, she's great. A real sweetheart. But if you decide to ask her out, don't bother. She might be blonde and hot as hell, but she's got one helluva wild side. Her girlfriend ain't too keen on it either to tell you the truth." The man spoke with such a deep respect for them and Jesse nearly sighed in disappointment.

"Girlfriend?"

"Yeah, this cute little redhead. Real sweetheart." The man continued to talk as though he had forgotten he was talking to just a stranger. Jesse smiled at how much the man must like them. "Always stoppin by, helps Callie with demonstrations. Its so cute to see them together..." There was a pause and Jesse could almost see the other guy grinning stupidly before Jesse realized he'd said 'Redhead.'

_'Maybe.. No. Shalimar isn't gay. And neither was...'_ Jesse could barely even think his late friend's name.

"Devon, do you want to sign up today?"

"Nah, but definitely later. Right now I got a meeting to go to. See ya."

"Good by sir."

Jesse hung up and leaned back shell-shocked.

_'They couldn't have been together... but...'_ He thought harder and doubt crept into his mind. _'They were always close... sometimes Shal would mispronounce simple things when Emma would bend over...'_ Jesse blushed as as he remembered the only reason he knew that was because he'd watch Emma too and could pinpoint the exact moment she had screwed up. _'They did Tai Chi together, went shopping together.. When Emma had to help Brennan when he was sick Shalimar had kept her eyes glued to Emma the entire time... worry she had said.. and how Shalimar had overcame her fear of fire to save Emma's life... She'd said... She'd said her fear of losing Emma was greater than her fear of fire... and how she..' _Tears formed in Jesse's eyes as he continued. _'How Shal had screamed and cried when Emma had been taken away after she had died...'_ Even thinking of how Shalimar had sounded then, the heart -wrenching pain, the sorrow. He remembered how she used to cry herself to sleep every night after that and he swallowed back his tears.

Suddenly to Jesse the two of them together just wasn't as farfetched as it had seemed. _'So maybe this Callie **is** Shalimar, and she has a thing for redheads?'_ He chuckled before walking back to the computer and flipping his cd back on.

_London calling, yes, I was there, too_

_An' you know what they said? Well, some of it was true!_

_London calling at the top of the dial_

_After all this, won't you give me a smile?_

_London calling_

_'I'll just get her number the old fashioned way...' _He decided to just hack into the employment records of the Serene Dragon Dojo and hopefully catch her when she was home, resolving to call Lexa as soon as he had at least left a message for Shalimar since he already knew where she was. A smile ghosted his lips as he typed in the quiet warehouse, the only company being The Clash from his stereo.


	7. Chapter 2 Part 2

A/N: The lyrics are from Bad Boyfriend by Garbage which means I don't own them.

Street lights flew by on either side of Brennan unnoticed as he deftly navigated the newly acquired Alfa Studie back to his garage. It was painted a dull blue with a torn passenger seat. The car itself needed to be completely cleaned: oil change, detailing, odor removal, etc. Brennan didn't mind though -he'd just up the price.

The car slowed to a crawl as Brennan pulled into the alleyway behind the garage and -after parking to open the door -pulled into the garage. Brennan shut the garage door and flipped on the lights casting a while glow on the room. Brennan walked over to his old CD player and put his Garbage CD on random.

_I've got a fever_

_Come check it and see_

_There's something burning and rolling in me_

_We may not last but we'll have fun till it ends_

_C'mon baby be my bad boyfriend_

Brennan smiled as thoughts of Shalimar entered his mind unbidden, summoning the exact image of her to the front of his mind. If he closed his eyes he could almost see her -golden hair, mischievous dark eyes, lithe body... He smiled as he remembered how they'd flirt with each other, how sometimes she'd be smiling and talking to Emma then a look -one he couldn't described any other way besides longing -crossed her face and her and Emma would put more space between them.

_I wanna hear you call out my name_

_I wanna see you burn up in flames_

_Keep you on ice so I can show all my friends_

_C'mon baby be my bad boyfriend_

He never could figure that out. The way they'd talk to each other all huddled close like that then bolt apart whenever someone saw them like that. He had always assumed it was just Emma, judging from his conversations with her at least.

_So ripe so sweet come suck it and see_

_But watch out Daddy I sting like a bee_

_I know some tricks I swear will give you the bends_

_C'mon baby be my bad boyfriend_

_

* * *

_He and Emma had, years ago, been sitting in the living room watching infomercials and making fun of the over zealous announcers. She'd made another comment that sent Bren into fits of laughter but when he saw she was looking serious he stopped, concerned. 

"What is it Emma?" She had just shaken her head but the anxious look in her eyes spoke volumes to the elemental. "C'mon. You can tell me anything Em. I told you about the time I tried to pick up a girl using the Oscar Mayer song on a dare." Emma laughed out loud at that.

"All right... But you have to promise me not to tell, ok? Not a soul."

"I promise."

"Sure?"

"Positive." She had turned to face him completely.

"Ok. Ok... And I'm only telling you this because you're my best friend." She clarified before shehad taken several deep, nervous breaths before nodding to herself. "I think... I'm in love." Brennan smiled at her widely.

"So? Who's the lucky guy? Jesse? It's Jesse isn't it?"

"It's... Shalimar." It was whispered so quietly he almost missed it.

"Sh... alimar?" Emma's face grew bright red.

"Yes.. I'm sorry, I know you like her and everything but... I just can't help it."

"But... I didn't know you were..."

"Bi? It's a common thing for psionics. We can sympathize so well with people we just fall for whoever -no matter what sex they are."

"Huh. Well..." Ema's face became clouded with sadness before Brennan spoke again. "At least I"ll know I'm not the only one with a thing for blondes." I was silent for a moment before they burst out laughing.

* * *

_My fever's rising you ran into luck_

_Say what sugar_

_You wanna get what?_

_I'm wanna give you one hundred and ten_

_C'mon baby be my bad boyfriend_

Brennan shook his head to clear the thoughts before grabbing his tool box and setting to work on making the car unidentifiable if the authorities stopped in. It hadn't happened before but that didn't mean he could let himself get careless. He was so lost in his work, he didn't hear the phone ringing in his office.

* * *

Brennan smiled in satisfaction as he climbed the stairs to his apartment. It was only two hours later but he'd removed the serial numbers from the car, cleaned the junk from the floor, switched license plates and washed the dirt off of it.

The answering machine blinked at him and he sighed in annoyance before pushing the play button.

"_Oops! Wrong number!"_

The machine beeped and moved on to the next message.

"_How much do you cost for a-"  
_

Brennan slapped the next button before heading into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He'd just stuck the brush into his mouth when he heard a vaguely familiar voice fill the room.

"_Devon Christophson, 243-555-4132. My problem is.. I've misplaced my **Kane.** Call me ASAP."_

Brennan shrugged it off and resumed brushing his teeth. _'Misplaced his cane? What a nut..' _He shook his head at the absurdity of the statement. _'Who calls a car shop about a missing ca-' _The toothbrush clattered into the sink as it slipped from his grip.

_'No way... It **couldn't** be...'_ Brennan replayed the message and wrote down the phone number. He picked up his phone and -after deciding to put off calling 'Devon' to a more reasonable hour -dialed his painter.

"Hey man, got a customer who needs his ride fixed up tomorrow. Come in around 8." Brennan hung up and climbed into his bed, tossing fitfully into sleep.

* * *

Brennan sat at his desk staring at the phone in front of him. The boys had gone home for the day having finished the painting and other precautions Brennan had insisted on. Granted, it was only five o' clock, but his crew worked fast. A call had been placed, the client would arrive at nine to pick up the car and be briefed on the rules involved with it. Now all he had to to was call 'Devon' back.

Minutes later Brennan still hadn't moved. _'C'mon, you can do this. Just pick up the phone for starters.' _He laughed at himself for the couching attempt and picked up the phone with trembling fingers. Butterflies danced in his stomach in excitement as he dialed the number.

While it rang, he took several deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Hello, Devon speaking." Brennan felt slightly nauseous in his excitement.

"It's me." There was a long pause.

"Brennan? Hey man-" Brenna's apprehension got the better of him and he cut Jesse off.

"When do we meet."

"Uh..." Brennan wanted to apologize upon hearing the hurt in Jesse's voice but didn't. "Well, Shal has to take a flight but you could come now, stay with me in Baltimore. Lexa should arrive after you so I'll show you the new place and everything first, ok?"

"Ok then. Gotta take care of some things and I'll be right there."

After exchanging addresses the elemental hung up. He sat still for a few moments before getting up and ready to get going. He'd leave after getting the money from his client tonight.

* * *

The Alfa Studie purred out of the garage quickly and Brennan flipped through the stack of bills in his hand. $2200 was in his pocket and it felt good.

Steven hadn't even blinked when the taller man had slyly upped the price. He was too enthralled with the garnet beauty in front of him.

Brennan walked up the stairs and grabbed his suitcase just inside the door of his apartment. He'd taken care of everything -the boys had been informed, clients put on hold, clothes packed etc. He was just about to go when Boris -which was what he had named the cat -meowed at him expectantly. Brennan walked out the door and dumped his suitcase into the trunk of his '67 Shelby Mustang GT500.After some debating he ran upstairs and grabbingBoris up along with some cat food and water bottles before heading back to the car.


	8. Chapter 3 part 2

Callie had been distant lately, lost in her thoughts nearly all the time -or so it seemed to Selene anyway. She was worried about the blonde. Cal was edgy, spacey, sometimes even down right rude to people without even meaning to be. Not knowing what else to do, Selene tried to keep her busy but so far it had been a bust.

At the movies she'd look like she was paying attention, watching the screen with mild interest but as soon as something exploded she'd jump a bit. Like she wasn't even there.

When they went shopping Selene made a point to pass up her favorite places -the shoe store she got those killer boots from, the clothing store she usually bought the tight yet comfortable shirts from, even the park they'd usually just wander in on lazy weekend afternoons to enjoy each others company. Nothing seemed to get through to her.

Finally, when she started missing motions in her class, Selene had had enough. She'd already felt guilty for letting it continue like it did but she'd figured at the time that it would just pass like all Callie's moods eventually did. Now though she could see she had assumed wrong.

She stepped into the front room with a determined look on her face and grabbed the remote from the startled blonde, shutting it off as she did so.

* * *

"We need to talk."

_'Uh oh..' _Shalimar plastered a wide smile on her face as she looked up at Selene. She didn't really want to have this talk but knew it would eventually have come sooner or later. Apparently sooner was in Selene's opinion the better choice.

"What about?" They both knew she knew what about but Shalimar had to stall a bit, get her story together so Selene would go easier on her.

"That's what I want to know. These past couple of days you've been so distant honey. What's wrong?" Shalimar felt a twinge of guilt in her gut because she knew that Selene wasn't lying. Ever since her com ring had blinked she'd been lost in memories of the team, her family... Emma.

"Nothing's wrong Sel. I've just got a lot on my mind is all." Internally, Shalimar winced. She could already anticipate the next question Selene would ask.

"What's on your mind then?"

"Just... stuff."

_'Nice Shal, real smooth.'_

"What 'stuff?'" Selene wouldn't let go and suddenly Shalimar felt the need to go on the defensive, not ready to discuss Emma and the team with Selene just yet.

"Just... things ok? Let it go." It came out harsher than Shalimar had intended and she quickly tried to apologize to Selene as she stood up from the couch. "I'm sorry-"

Selene slammed the door shut on her way out of their place angrily cutting Shalimar's apology off.

Shalimar sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. _'I'm gonna have to tell her...' _She laughed ruefully at that. _'How the hell am I supposed to tell her that I'm a mutant? And on top of that, one who fell in love with another mutant who died that isn't her?'_ Shalimar could practically see the crushed face of Selene as she told her about Emma. _'She might never feel like she adds up to Emma...' _Shalimar sighed before punching a pillow angrily and standing up.

_'No way she's gonna listen to me any more if I just let her go off angry...' _The blonde snatched her coat off of the hook by the door and set off after the redhead, rehearsing apologies as she did so.

* * *

Selene dropped angrily onto a park bench, glaring out at the lake in front of her. Talking with Callie about her past had always been like pulling teeth but this time was especially stressful because she knew -just **knew** -something was going to happen. Soon. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach as she began to relax a bit as the quietness of the park got to her. She didn't know if it would be good or bad, but she knew it would be big.

She sighed feeling like she had overreacted just a bit this time but she couldn't help herself. Every time she tried to get Callie to talk about these things she was shut down almost immediately.

Suddenly strong arms hugged her from behind and a curtain of golden blonde hair entered her peripheral view. Selene leaned back into the embrace and Callie kissed her temple gently. Selene marveled -as always -at how Callie always knew where to find her and the way she could just sneak up on her like that. _'Maybe all that Tai Chi pays off after a while..,' _Selene thought with amusement.

"I'm sorry baby... I didn't mean to snap at you...," was murmured into her ear and Selene leaned further into the other woman.

"No, I'm sorry. I over reacted. Its just that-" She sighed again.

"Just what sweetheart?" Callie came around the bench to sit next to her, keeping one arm around her shoulder the whole time.

"Well... Whenever I try to talk to you about this you just won't. Its like.. Like you're ashamed or -or you don't trust me or something." The blonde stiffened slightly. "It hurts Cal..." Callie's arm tightened her hold and Selene felt her place a kiss on her forehead softly.

"It's not that I don't trust you.." Selene heard the hesitation in Callie's voice but didn't press it -this was farther than they'd gotten when talking about this before. "I'm just... Scared." The redhead frowned and glanced up at Callie with a confused look. "I'm not sure you'd still want to be with me if I told you everything." Selene sat up straight and caught Callie's eyes in a piercing gaze.

"You're an idiot." Callie's eyebrows raised slightly at that.

"I'm an idiot?"

"You're an idiot."

"Why, may I ask, am I an idiot?" Callie wore the cutest teasing look on her face and Selene fought the urge to kiss her and forget all about the conversation.

"For thinking I'd leave you for telling me who you are. That's why you're an idiot." Selene glared at Callie playfully as the blonde laughed out loud at that before turning serious.

"So you really want to know-"

"Yes." Callie sighed and pulled Selene up by the hand.

"Then let's go home ok? We'll talk about it there."

* * *

So Shalimar told her -everything. Well, Everything but Emma anyway. Selene just sat there completely silent as the feral paced the living room in front of her while she spoke. When she was finally done she paused mid step to wait for Selene to say something.

Selene just watched the blonde fidget under her gaze and Shal felt a big claustrophobic all of the sudden. When Selene snapped out of it Shalimar was startled to say the least.

"That's it?" The blonde blinked at her. "That's what's gotten you upset? Your friends are contacting you to go save the guy you think of as a dad and that's the only thing on your mind? Huh." Selene cocked her head to the side at the bewildered feral.

"Well... yeah."

"And you couldn't tell me why?"

"Well -uh -ya see the thing is-..." Shal tried to explain some more before sighing in defeat -she could never win against Selene, even if it wasn't an argument. "I don't really know. So... you're not freaked about me being a feral?" Selene merely raised her eyebrows at her.

"Are you kidding? It's actually kinda hot..." It was Shal's turn to raise her eyebrows before she leaned down and kissed Selene. The kiss grew more passionate and the blonde soon had Selene pinned on the couch beneath her. Shalimar nibbled on the red head's bottom lip gently which elicited a moan from her.

The feral's hand -which had been resting on Selene's hip -made its way upward until it reached the hem of Selene's shirt and slipped underneath it with practiced ease. Selene giggled slightly as Shal moved her hand up her ribcage slowly before the feral's hand slipped around to rest firmly on the small of Selene's back. Shalimar placed kisses along her jaw as her fingers trailed Selene's spine lightly, eliciting a quiet moan from the woman beneath her.

Her hands traveled back down her girlfriend's spine and she grabbed the hem of her shirt and tugged gently. Selene raised her hands above her head and Shalimar lifted the shirt off before throwing it to the floor, forgetting it just as quickly. Shal moved in again and placed a gentle bite on the shorter woman's pulse point before trailing kisses down her chest, pausing when she was met with the edge of a black lacy bra. The feral caught Selene's eyes and shot her a lop-sided grin. "Have I ever told you how much I love this set?"

"Shalimar..." The blonde's heart soared when she heard Selene say her name -her real name -and she locked eyes with the other woman once again. Her eyes flashed at the emotions clearly displayed there. She opened her mouth to speak -a wide smile gracing her lips as she did -only to be interrupted by the phone going off. They both froze for a moment before Shalimar sighed in defeat and went to answer it. Selene swore a string of pretty colorful words and Shal was all too eager to agree with her suddenly grumpy mood.

"Hello?" The word came out a little edgier than she had wanted but she didn't much care right then.

"...Shalimar?" The blonde stiffened completely and Selene moved to hug her from behind.

"I'll be in the shower, ok?" Shal nodded, thankful that her girlfriend knew her well enough to know she needed to be alone for a bit.

"Jesse?" Shalimar couldn't stop the tears in her eyes from making her voice sound thick. "God Jess... Its really you?" He let out a breathless chuckle on the other end and Shalimar could sympathize with the emotions he was probably feeling right now.

"Sure is Shal. It sure is." She let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh. "Did you get my message? The com ring? Did it blink?" She nodded before realizing he couldn't see her over the phone.

"Yeah, yeah I did. Jesse is it really time? Are we going to really save him?"

"It sure is. Everything's ready. All we need is for you to fly here and we'll get goin'."

"Wow... Ok I'll be there." As he gave her the address to write down the shower turned off and she nearly slapped her forehead. "Wait, there's something... well. Is it ok if I bring someone along? I'm dating... someone... and I'm sure they'll want to tag along yanno, like a vacation?" He paused on the line and Shal could practically hear the wheels turning in his head.

"You want to bring your girlfriend along?" Shal was shocked into silence at that. "I guess it would be ok. Don't know how Brennan will react though to tell you the truth."

"You mean you don't care that... well..."

"That you're dating a girl? Of course not. What kind of big brother would I be if I hated you for being who you are?" Tears fell from Shal's eyes freely now -tears of relief, not pain.

"Thanks Jess..."

"It's nothing Shal. Look I gotta give Lexa a call so I'll see you when you two get here."

"Ok Jess. See ya there then." Selene walked into the room towel drying her hair and noticed Shalimar's radiant smile.

"Whats up honey?"

"Pack up sweetie, we're going to Baltimore."

"What, now?" Shalimar turned to look at her fully and a smile crept to her face as she took in the sight of her girlfriend in nothing but a robe and a confused frown.

"Right now I think we have better things to do..."

-

**A/N:** Ok so that was the first time I've written something like that so if anyone has any constructive criticism or whatever, I'd be glad to hear it. Any pointers would be great. :)


	9. Chapter 4 part 2

A/N: I do not own The Once and Future King. I haven't even read it to be honest but I watched X2 the other day and figured 'Why not?' I also don't own Zathura, which is a shame because its a pretty damn good movie(saw it last weekend :) ) After this will be Chapter 5 and so on.

-

Lexa sighed happily as she sank into the couch cushions, for once getting to relax instead of constantly worrying about some shoot or other and whether or not the appointments she'd made had been confirmed. It was a rare moment when Lexa could just do absolutely nothing and Lexa intended to indulge in it to the fullest.

She was wearing a rumpled blue jeans and a small beater. Her bare feet poked out from under the flare -legged jeans and she propped them onto the table before picking up her book -The Once and Future King by T. H. White. She opened to where she had left off and turned the lamp down a notch casting a warm glow about the room.

"Someone looks comfy." Lexa nearly jumped a foot when Jake voice shattered the silence she had been enveloped in.

"Looked. As in past tense. You know I hate that Jake." He laughed at her before walking over to the couch and -after moving her legs -sat down with a plop.

"I know but you just look so cute when you're scared Lex!" He leaned over and pinched her cheeks and she smacked him on the arm.

"I hate that too..." She rubbed her cheeks to get the soreness out like she did every time he did that. He plucked the book from her hands and instead of protesting she just sighed in annoyance.

"The Once and Future King, eh? Never heard of it." He handed it back to her after he said that gingerly so as not to lose the page she was on.

"Its about King Arthur and all that. I'm just reading it because you just **had** to rent X -Men United the other day."

"What does that have to do with anything?" he asked with a frown.

"Thats what he was reading. Magnet man or whatever his name is."

"So why did you feel the need to read it?" She answered him with a glare.

"So what are you doing home tonight? Didn't you have something with Doug?"

"Nah.." Jake sighed wistfully. "He's got a meeting early tomorrow so he had to cancel tonight." Lexa winced in sympathy.

"Meeting my ass..." She patted him on the arm lightly. "Hope for your sake it is a meeting and not him ditchin' you for the night." He nodded sullenly and a silence descended over them.

"So you wanna do something tonight? I mean you've got nothing to do and neither do I. We could hit the movies or something." Jake seemed to perk up at that and a half smile crossed his face.

"Sure Lex, let me get ready ok?" She laughed at him before waving her hand dismissively.

"Take all the time you need."

* * *

"Damn, that was kinda cool." Jake exclaimed as they made their way out of the movie theater. 

"I know, wasn't it? And here I thought it would be crap." Lexa popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth absently. They'd just gotten done with watching the movie Zathura, the one that was basically a sequel to Jumanji but in space.

"Do you remember the part where the robot comes in?" Jake cracked up laughing at the end and Lexa joined in with him a moment later.

"Yeah that was great." Silence slowly descended on them again as they walked before it was broken by Jake.

"Thanks Lexa. Yanno, for hangin' out with me and all. It's sweet." Lexa smiled before hugging him with one of her arms.

"No problem Jay, it was fun. Isn't that the point of the night? To have fun?" He grinned widely and hugged her back.

"That is was, that it was. Look why don't we go back to the apartment huh? I gotta get some notes together before my staff meeting during lunch tomorrow." Lexa nodded with a slight yawn.

"Yeah ok. I'm kinda beat anyway." He poked her in the arm with a smirk.

"This vacation thing is making you a lazy ass, Lex."

_'Oh you haven't seen how active this is all going to become in the near future...,'_ she thought to herself before poking him too.

"And what about you? I'm not the only one being lazy Mr. Big Shot Executive who makes his assistant do all his typing for him." He looked at her with a slightly defensive mock scowl.

"I can't type well ok? I can never find the home ro-"

"Jake I was joking."

"Oh..." He smiled sheepishly and his hair fell into his eyes. Several girls walked past and kept shooting enviously looks at Lexa and dreamy smiles at Jake. Lexa sighed with a half smile on her face.

"It never fails to amaze me how they flock to you Jake. You should quit your job and become the next 'Hitch.' At least then you could say you learned something when I dragged you to see that movie with me other than how great an ass Will Smith has." Jake smiled cockily at Lexa.

"It was I, Robot I said his ass looked great in. Not Hitch."

"Oh yes, forgive me." Lexa rolled her eyes before grabbing him by the elbow and dragging him back home.

* * *

"Lexa, there's a message from your boyfriend." 

"Jesse called?" Lexa's face lit up while her stomach twisted in anxiousness.

"No, Carlito your secret Latin lover I know nothing about. Of course Jesse called." Jake walked off muttering with mock annoyance something about her having 'blonde roots.' Lexa just glared at his retreating form but her heart wasn't in it.

Lexa picked the phone up and dialed. After a few moments a groggy 'Hello?' reached her ears and she smiled.

"Hey Jess. You called right?" There was shuffling in the background and Lexa could picture him sitting up in his bed trying to get the lamp on.

"Sure did. Where were ya? Thought you were on vacation or something." The knowing smile was evident in his tone and Lexa smiled softly.

"Jake's date canceled on him at the last minute so I took him to the movies."

"Oh? What'd you see?"

"Zathura."

"Zath -what?"

"Zathura. Jumanji in space."

"Oooooh ok. I remember now. So... did your ring blink?" Jesse's voice dropped conspiratorially

"Sure did Jess. Why you think I was on vacation? So I could indulge in the splendors of daytime TV?" She chuckled lightly and he joined in.

"Don't you have cable?"

"Yeah but its not much of an improvement I've found." She sighed. "So when is this going down?"

"As soon as you and Shalimar get here. Brennan's already crashing in the guest room so can stay in my room. Shalimar's getting a hotel room with her- uh. Shal's getting a hotel room." Lexa frowned slightly at his little slip.

"Shalimar's what?" Silence. "Jesse. Is Shal bringing someone?" Jesse's breath released after a few seconds.

"Yes... But I can't tell you who. She wants to make the announcement when we're all together. Don't. Tell. Brennan." The dark haired woman was a little surprised at the order but shrugged it off despite the curiosity.

"Uh.. Ok Jess. My lips are sealed." Lexa interrupted herself with a yawn and Jesse chuckled lightly.

"I guess you're tired, eh? I'll see you when you get here."

"Alright hon, I'll be there soon."

"Bye."

"Bye." He hung up on her and she put the phone back before going through her nighttime routine and going to sleep.


	10. Chapter 5

**A/N**: The lyrics are from Flyleaf which means I don't own them. The song is called "I'm So Sick."

-

Brennan's feet were propped on the coffee table when Jesse came back from his phone call with Lexa. Brennan looked around the apartment and shook his head slowly with a sly grin on his face.

"How much a place like this set you back Jess?" The shorter man shrugged.

"I don't know. The TV itself cost about three grand." He made a gesture at the large plasma screen hanging on the wall. "But if you think this place is pricy, you should see the new Sanctuary." Brennan let out a low whistle at the thought.

The apartment was big -huge even. Classy decorating gave the space a distinct feeling, like you'd expect people over for a cocktail party every night and maids cleaning up after it every day. There was a bar on one side of the room near the pool table and Brennan had already sampled the quality scotch stored there. He swirled his glass absently and Jesse smiled before picking up the remote for the stereo system. Flyleaf poured out of the speakers seconds later.

_I will break into your thoughts_

_With what's written on my heart_

_I will break, break_

"Wanna play pool?" Brennan grinned up at him before rising from the couch.

"I'll break." Jesse nodded with a confident smirk.

"Go ahead, you still won't win."

"You say that like you've been practicing." Brennan raised an eyebrow at him.

_I'm so sick, infected with_

_Where I live_

_Let me live without this_

_Empty bliss, selfishness_

_I'm so sick_

_I'm so sick_

"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't. All I know is you're going down." Brennan laughed loudly and Jesse was glad for that -the elemental had seemed different when he first showed up but now he was getting back to his old self.

"Dream on." Brennan organized the balls in the triangle -lucky 13 first of course -before leaning back to take aim.

_If you want more of this_

_We can push out, sell out, die out_

_So you'll shut up_

_And stay sleeping_

_With my screaming in your itching ears_

There was a loud crack sound as the balls split apart. A striped ball fell into the pocket and Brennan smirked.

"So, how is everyone?" The molecular didn't look up from the table when he answered.

"They're fine I guess. Not in jail or dead or anything so as good as can be expected." The dark haired man cocked his head to the side to look at Jesse with a raised eyebrow.

"I suppose you're right..." He shot the cue ball and sunk another striped ball into the corner pocket. "So how's Lexa doing?" Jesse's grin broadened.

_I'm so sick, infected with_

_Where I live_

_Let me live without this_

_Empty bliss, selfishness_

_I'm so sick_

_I'm so sick_

"She's doing great. A photographer now. One of the best yanno?" Jesse added with pride.

"She dating anyone?" Another ball fell into a pocket but Brennan sighed as a solid ball followed it. He stood back from the table as Jesse leaned over it.

"Yeah. Me." Jesse punctuated the last word by hitting a solid into a pocket.

Brennan grinned and slapped him on the shoulder. "Nice man, way to go. Always knew you two would hit it off." That was only partially true. Brennan had known Lexa and Jesse worked well together but he had always half expected the molecular to fall for Emma -not that that would've worked out anyway.

A groan from the smaller man told him it was his turn again.

_Hear it, I'm screaming it_

_You're heeding to it now_

_Hear it, I'm screaming it_

_You tremble at this sound_

"So uh... What about Shalimar?" the tall man asked casually. Jesse was glad Brennan couldn't see his face because he was pretty sure it resembled the classic 'deer in the headlights' look.

"You'll have to ask her Bren, I don't know myself." Brennan sighed as he missed a ball.

"Think she waited for me?"

_'Oh Bren you have no idea how much she** didn't** wait for you...'_

"I dunno man. She seemed pretty pissed off at you when I last saw her."

_You sink into my clothes_

_This invasion makes me feel_

_Worthless, hopeless, sick_

Brennan leaned against the table and hung his head down. "Yeah, I know..." Jesse patted him on the back.

"I'm sure she didn't forget about you Bren, but its been 5 years. If she moved on, I think you should be happy for her." A sigh heaved itself from the taller man.

_I'm so sick, infected with_

_Where I live_

_Let me live without this_

_Empty bliss, selfishness_

_I'm so, I'm so sick_

"I guess you're right... But if he's an asshole, I reserve the right to hate him." Jesse chuckled but thankfully Brennan couldn't tell how hollow it was.

"Noted." Jesse sunk the 8 ball with a yawn before placing his poolstick across the table. "I'm gonna hit the sack alright? The girls will be here tomorrow and I don't want to fall asleep on them." The elemental chuckled before placing his own poolstick next to Jesse's.

"I hear that. So I get the guest room then?"

"Yeah, Shal wants to stay in a hotel room and Lexa's staying with me." Brennan grinned slyly at Jesse.

"Again man, way. To. Go!" He wrapped an arm around Jesse's neck and messed up his hair before running off to his room.

"Oh don't think I won't get you back for that Brennan!" the molecular called out as he fixed his hair.

_I'm so sick, infected with_

_Where I live_

_Let me live without this_

_Empty bliss, selfishness_

_I'm so (I'm so)_

_I'm so sick (I'm so sick)_

_I'm so (I'm so)_

_I'm so sick (I'm so sick)_

_

* * *

_The doorbell rang around 9:30 or so in the morning and Jesse hurried to open it. He paused to check his hair in the mirror and calm down before putting on a million dollar grin and opening it. Lexa was leaning against the wall outside his door, suitcase in hand and a warm smile graced her face. 

He ditched all attempts at being smooth and scooped her up in his arms. She giggled before leaning down to kiss him lovingly. He responded in kind before easing her to the ground. He kept his arms around her and when they finally broke the kiss he brought his hand up to trace her cheek gently.

"Hey..." It was whispered but completely audible in the hallway.

"Hey yourself." He picked up her bag and led them into the apartment. A disheveled Brennan was walking out of the guest room but all the sleepiness disappeared when he saw Lexa. His eyes brightened and -forgetting he was in just boxers and a t-shirt -hurried over and hugged her tightly. Jesse laughed and went to put her suitcase in his room.

"Lexa -wow! You look great!"

She looked him up and down with a smirk. "I'd say the same for you but..." She gestured at his sleepclothes and he blushed.

"I would've had time to dress if **someone** hadn't rang the doorbell at nine in the morning! Do you know what that is my time?"

She pretended to think. "Nine?" He mock scowled at her.

"Lucky guess... Tell Jess I'll be in the shower ok?" She nodded and he walked back into the guest room.

Footsteps approached from behind her and Lexa felt Jesse's arms wrap around her. She leaned into is chest with a sigh and he nuzzled her neck with his face.

"So Shal really moved on huh?" was murmured from the woman and Jesse stiffened slightly.

"You have no idea..." A frown graced her face and she turned in his arms to speak to him but the look on his face clearly said 'be patient' so she hugged him instead. For some reason she had the feeling when the blonde showed up Brennan wouldn't be too happy with it.


	11. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys. :) Let me know what you think of this chapter. If people seem out of character I apologize before hand. If something doesn't make sense don't hesitate to ask. :)

-

Shalimar raised her hand to the door but dropped it after a few seconds of deliberation. The feral bit her lip nervously and raised it again -only to drop it to her side. She fiddled with the hem of her shirt absently before raising her hand. She lowered it again. Selene raised an eyebrow at the feral's antics but said nothing, instead opting to shove the blonde into the door the next time she raised her hand. Shalimar stumbled into the door before turning to glare slightly at Selene. The redhead merely shrugged.

"What?"

"What was that?" Shalimar asked irritated.

"I was bored alright? I'd rather be bored sitting down and having awkward situations with your friends than standing in some hallway Shal." Selene put a hand on her hip in a challenging way and Shalimar's reply was cut off by Jesse open the door. Their eyes lit up as soon as they met and Jesse swept her into a bear hug which the woman returned. Selene hid a small smile as she watched them.

"God Sha- er, Callie..." He had finally noticed Selene watching them and let go of Shalimar finally. He held out a hand to Selene which she shook lightly with a grin. "You must be Selene. Callie's told me so much about you." A raised eyebrow from Selene was directed at Shalimar showing how much the shorter woman didn't believe that in the slightest but she decided to play along anyway.

"All good things I hope." He laughed lightly before waving them in.

"Of course of course! Hey Lexa! **Callie** and Selene are here!" The dark haired woman stepped out of the kitchen with a soda in hand and smiled. Confusion flashed through her eyes at the names but Jesse -as he was standing behind them as he announced their arrival-started pointing at Shalimar and mouthing 'Callie' at her. Lexa nodded imperceptibly and walked up to give each of them a hug.

"Oh Callie I've missed you! How've you been? And who is this here?" Lexa's warm smile hid the growing unease she felt at this whole new situation.

_'Jesse wasn't kidding when he said Brennan wouldn't like this...,' _she thought to herself.

"I've been good. Great actually. And this is Selene, my-" At that moment Brennan decided to make an appearance. His skin was slightly flushed from the shower and he was towel drying his hair.

"Shalimar!" He tossed the towel over his shoulder and scooped her up into a tight hug. Shalimar's eyes widened -she'd forgotten about Brennan for a while. She pushed at his shoulders a bit as Selene cocked her head to the side with a curious look on her face, taking the scene in stride as she did so.

Shalimar suddenly felt a wave of gratitude as she saw how calm her girlfriend was being about this before Brennan suddenly pulled away and kissed her full on the mouth. Jesse covered his eyes and Lexa cringed in sympathy -whether for Selene, Brennan or both even she herself couldn't tell. Selene just watched with a thoughtful look on her face.

Shalimar shoved him away after a few shocked seconds and he stumbled slightly. A hurt look flashed across his face as he regained his footing.

"What is it Shal? I thought you'd be happy to see me too..." Shalimar just locked eyes with him for a few seconds before wrapping an arm around Selene's waist and pulling her close.

"Brennan, Lexa. Meet Selene. My girlfriend." Shalimar's defiant gaze met Lexa's warm one and she softened up a little before she saw the dawning of realization on Brennan's face replaced by rage. He stormed into the guest bedroom angrily and Jesse sighed.

"I'll talk to him.." Jesse moved to follow him but Shalimar put a hand on his shoulder to stop his movement.

"No no... I will." She turned to Selene and kissed her lightly. "I'll be right back ok?" The shorter woman nodded and Shalimar walked off towards the guest room. She paused and went back to Jesse and whispered lowly in his ear, "Oh, by the way, you can stop calling me Callie. She knows about everything... but Emma." With that she turned to go back to sort everything out with Brennan.

Jesse was mildly stunned by that but he could understand it. The door to the guest room closed and he turned to Selene. "So uh... you know huh?" She nodded with an amused smirk. "Well, don't I feel stupid." They laughed and Lexa joined in after a second or two.

* * *

Brennan paced his room angrily as he thought about Shalimar and that- that **woman**! He punched the wall next to his bed just as the door opened. 

"What'd that wall ever do to you?" His teeth gritted angrily as he spun on her.

"What the hell is your problem!" She was slightly taken aback by that before she snapped out of it.

"What about you? If you're thinking of blaming the fact that I found someone and you didn't you can just forget it!" She shouted back at him before stepping right into his personal space. "It was your idea to split up Brennan, remember that." His eyes flashed in rage at the icy tone in her voice.

"That didn't stop Jesse and Lexa. It wouldn't have stopped us."

"Maybe not but the fact that I went to California might have."

"California! Do you hate me that much!"

"Maybe it wasn't about you! Maybe it was about me for once! Maybe I just had to get away! I couldn't stay here without knowing that Adam was trapped in some godforsaken place and we couldn't do anything to help him!"

"So you left to get away from Adam!" he snarled out at her, not letting go of his rage in the slightest.

"No! Thats not what I-" She threw her hands up and let out a low growl. "I wouldn't have been able to sit still Brennan! I'd have gone in with or without you guys if I had stayed here."

"So? You could have stayed with me! I could have helped you wait. You would never have had to go to California..." He stepped closer to her and put his hands on her arms and she stepped back from him.

"But I'm... I'm glad I did go to California. I never would have met Selene if I hadn't gone and... I care so much about her. I can't imagine what my life would be like without her." He scoweled before turning his back to her.

"I'd have been happier if..." He trailed off in anger and she strained to hear him.

"You'd have been happier if what?" He hesitated before turning his head to the side.

"Did you know Emma was in love with you?" Tears sprung into her eyes but he missed them as he turned away. "She told me. I wouldn't have cared if you had chosen her over me. Hell I'd have been thrilled. But I won't be happy for you with this -this **girl **who knows absolutely **nothing** about us, about Mutant X. About the fact the bond we had with each other, or the things we had to fight through. She never had to deal with that and she will **never** understand and I will **never **be fully ok with you and this woman when you could have had me or Emma at your side in an instant." He met her gaze evenly over his shoulder so she could see the determination there. "**Never** Shalimar. Leave." Tears streamed down her face openly and she bit her lip slightly.

"You would have approved of Emma?"

"Yes...Now just get out." He kept his back to her and she wiped her eyes, calming down some before leaving the room.

* * *

Jesse laughed at a joke Lexa told along with Selene but stopped cold when shouting emanated from the guest bedroom. He looked uncomfortably first at Lexa who winced as the voices rose and fell, then at Selene. He blinked at the calm look on her face. 

"So you're not... worried at all?"

"Hmm? Oh about Shalimar and Brennan? No. They're fine." He tilted his head slightly as the shouting continued.

"Huh. Ok then."

A silence descended over the room that wasn't even broken by the shouting of the two mutants in the guest room. Lexa cleared her throat.

"So uh.. how did you two meet?" The redhead smiled before launching into the story, occasionally pausing to let the louder parts of the arguing pass by so she wouldn't try to talk over it. All the while she didn't seem to worry about the fight.

Jesse grew wary of her after a bit, suddenly not knowing if Shalimar telling her everything was the right thing or not. She didn't seem jealous or angry when he kissed her, she's not upset now. He couldn't put his finger on why this was slightly unnerving and he didn't voice his opinion until she left to get a water bottle from the fridge.

"Does she seem... strange, to you?" Lexa raised her eyebrow at him.

"Stranger than a man who can walk through walls and a girl who can turn invisible? No." He blushed a bit.

"What I mean is, she hasn't really reacted at all to Brennan and Shalimar. Not at all."

"Maybe she wants to make a good impression with us Jesse. Did you ever think of that?" He ducked his head in slight embarrassment but he resolved not to let it go. "Now quit being paranoid and give her a chance. She's really nice." She leaned over and kiss him before turning once again to the shouting match.

Selene returned and they picked up their conversation again before the shouting died down. Selene cocked her head to the side and adopted a sad smile. "If you'll excuse me for just a moment." Lexa nodded and Selene walked towards the hallway the guest room was in -just as Shalimar was walking out. In tears. Lexa saw the redhead wrap her arms around the feral and lead her to the bathroom to calm her down -or so Lexa assumed.

"See what I mean? How did she know Shal was upset?" Jesse demanded quietly of Lexa. The dark haired woman shook her head, finally letting a little doubt seep into her opinion of Selene.

"I don't know..." She sighed. "Maybe it was just a coincidence?" she offered optistically and Jesse gave her a blank look.

"Or maybe she's not what she seems to be at all..."


	12. Chapter 7

**A/N**: I am reeeeeally sorry for the delay. I've had to study my butt off for my algebra test and then the place I usually write these chapters in (the notepad thing of a forum during my Accounting class) was blocked by the school so it took me a while to figure out I belonged to another site with the same thing in the profile. Anyway, here's the awaited chapter.

-

"Hey sweetie, you ok?" Shalimar smiled sadly as her girlfriend put an arm around her and lead her away from Brennan's room.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." The blonde vaguely registered they were now in the bathroom as Selene shut the door quietly.

"Shal I'm not stupid, we could hear you two shouting and everything." Brown eyes met Selene's warm yet concerned ones and she smiled ruefully.

"Sorry about that, things just got a little out hand..." Selene's hand ran up and down the blonde's arm in a comforting manner and Shalimar began to calm down some.

"It'll be alright... I'm positive if he got to know me he'd like me." An eyebrow was raised in amusement at that and Shal wrapped her arms around Selene's waist.The feral breathed in the familiar scent of lilac and that certain something she couldn't quite put her finger on -but she knew she knew it -swept around her.

"Oh you're sure are you?" A nod was received and the feral laughed. "How can you be so sure?"

A Mona Lisa-like smile flitted across Selene's face as she answered. "Trust me honey. I know he will." The mysterious, enigmatic smile left her face as quickly as it appeared as a bright smile took its place. Sadness lingered in Selene's eyes for a moment and the blonde stored that information away for later. "Come on, let's get out there before someone tries to catch us in the act." Shalimar laughed loudly at that and led her out of the room.

* * *

Jesse and Lexa sat on the couch in semi silence. Jesse's statement had somewhat surprised Lexa but she couldn't blame him. The redhead did seem awfully in tune with Shalimar, not to mention trusting. 

_'But does that mean she's hiding something? Or are they just really in love...'_

"All I'm saying is, we should keep an eye on her. Something just feels off..."

"You think she's dangerous?" Lexa's eyebrow raised in amusement as the thought of her new friend going ballistic on them shot through her mind and she fought down a giggle as Jesse wouldn't appreciate the humor at that moment.

"Who knows. Maybe. I just want us all to be careful around her. No discussing the plan in front of her, ok?" Lexa sighed in mild annoyance.

"Ok Jess, but I still think you're overreacting-" Shalimar's laughter reached their ears and Lexa smiled in smug triumph. "Could someone who makes her laugh after how sad she looked just a few minutes agobe an evil mastermind or something? Just lighten up Jess." Lexa stood up and moved behind the couch to rest her hands on his shoulders. As her hands started to work on the muscles there his head lolled forward and a content smile lit up his face. "Just relax and have a good time hun, thats all I ask."

"Relax?..."

"Mmmhmmm... get to know her a little bit, put your little suspicions aside for a while, have a good tim-" Jesse interrupted her by grabbing her hand and yanking her down for a smoldering kiss. She was caught so off guard she fell over the edge of the couch and onto his lap which -by the mere fact that his hand readjusted her slightly to seat her more comfortably-he didn't seem to mind in the least.

* * *

Brennan remained where he was lying on his bed face up until he heard Shalimar laughing close by. His face twisted in a scowl as it occurred to him that the only reason she might be laughing is because of that -Selene. He stood up and grabbed his jacket and keys. 

Boris hopped onto his bed and watched him search for his wallet with mild curiosity before mewling at him to get his attention. Brennan stopped mid-step and scratched the cat's ears before looking to see the water dish was empty. Brennan smiled and refilled it. His wallet suddenly appeared in his line of vision on top of the nightstand and he snatched it up. He left the door open on the way out so the Boris could wander freely if he wanted.

The elemental quietly shut the door on his way out of the room and -after slinking past a heated make out session between Lexa and Jesse -stalked out of the apartment and onto the street.

* * *

Selene bit her lip as she saw Jesse and Lexa on the couch. Shalimar cleared her throat a few minutes later and the redhead couldn't stop the giggle that left her at the confused and embarrassed expressions on the others' faces. 

"Just wanted to let you know we're going to go check in at the hotel now. See you later guys." The feral grabbed Selene's hand and dragged her off to the door.

"Nice meeting you two" was all she got out before the blonde shut the door. The moleculars on the couch stared at the door in silence before resuming their previous activity.

* * *

It was late at night when Brennan stumbled back into Jesse's apartment. His clothes reeked of smoke and alcohol and his footsteps rained heavily on the floor. He stopped at the place where the hallway and the kitchen intersected for a moment before deciding he was hungry. 

As he rummaged through the fridge the blonde molecular poked his head into the kitchen to see what was up. Upon seeing the drunken elemental he grabbed the pot of cold coffee and poured a glass before steering Brennan into the guest room.

"Eeeeeasy there Bren. Drink this ok?" Brennan accepted the drink without pause and grimaced as the sludge slid down his burning throat. "Want to tell me about it?" Brennan shook his head and Jesse yawned sleepily. "It'll help you feel better."

"No it won't..."

"Yes, it will. Trust me. The longer you hold this inside you the more it'll eat away at you before you just explode." Brennan was silent but stored that away for consideration later. After the coffee was done Jesse took the cup and put it in the kitchen sink. When he returned Brennan had passed out on the bed and the shorter man sighed before returning to his bedroom.

He peeled off the sweatpants he had on and tossed them back on the chair where they'd been thrown them hours ago. As he slipped into the covers Lexa wrapped her arms back around his waist.

"What was that about?..." He smiled at the sleepy tone of voice and kissed her forehead.

"Nothing love, go back to sleep..." She nodded groggily and fell asleep after resting her head on his chest.


	13. Chapter 8

"So... you and Brennan..." Selene let the sentence hang in the room and she could see Shalimar tense visibly.

They'd gotten the room around eight the day before. They would have been there sooner but Selene had wanted to do the 'tourist' thing and dragged a reluctant Shalimar along with her. It wasn't that she didn't particularly **want** to go, she just wanted to sit in the hotel room and think about the things Brennan had said but her girlfriend would have none of it. She had simply glared at the blonde and told her they'd either go wandering about or she'd stay with Shal and force her to watch daytime tv with her. Naturally, the blonde jumped at the chance to sight see.

"What about me and Brennan?" Selene smiled at the pout she knew was on Shal's face even though she couldn't see it.

"You two slept together, right?" If it was possible the blonde's shoulders seemed to tense up even more at that. She hugged the feral from behind and backed them up until they were sitting on the bed.

"I'm sor-OW!" Shal began but the redhead pinched her on the arm and stopped her in her tracks. "What the hell was that for?"

"There's no need to apologize sweetie. What happened happened. It's in the past and as long as it stays that way, I'm ok with it. You should be too." Selene felt moisture on her arms and smiled sadly as she realized the woman in her arms had let a few tears slip out of that emotionless mask she had been wearing. "Don't cry baby..."

"Have I ever told you that I love you?" Shal turned and pushed Selene down onto the bed with a wide smile that was returned by Selene.

"Yes, but I never get tired of hearing it..."

"I love you..." Before Shalimar's lips descended onto hers Selene felt -in the pit of her stomach -that the statement was somehow false. She shook it off almost instantly but later, when Shalimar was sleeping easily beside her, she couldn't stop it from returning full force.

_'What does it mean though?...'_

Selene had had this feeling before a few times, and every time it got stronger and more clear. She'd had a feeling the day she met Shalimar which made her decide to eat at the same restaurant. She'd had a feeling the day she woke up after a car accident and had known -just **known** -that as soon as the doctor with the warm smile left her hospital room she'd be ok.

Her feelings -hunches really -were usually right. She did get better, and going to that restaurant was perhaps the wisest decision she'd ever made. So what did this one mean then? When she finally fell asleep it was a fitful one.

* * *

The former team was circled around a table in Jesse's living room. Selene was back in the hotel room having decided to avoid pissing Brennan off any more than he already was but that did little to alleviate the tense silence between them. Jesse and Lexa did their best to smooth things out between them but all they succeeded in doing was convince them both to give each other the cold shoulder. Finally the two of them gave up and decided to just ignore the silence. 

"So we think we know where the new base of operations is located." After a few beats the seething elemental spoke up.

"You think?"

"Yes. I think I've found it."

"Thinking isn't good enough Jess. We can't just go attacking every place because then they'll move Adam and we'll never see him again."

Shalimar offered a soft grunt in agreement and Lexa rolled her eyes at them. The brunette opened her mouth to speak but Jesse patted her knee and she let out a sigh instead.

"Well this is the facility with the most security around it, ok?" Another few beats passed by and both moleculars were annoyed with their teammates. "Look just trust me ok? Adam **is** there." The pissed off mutants only nodded in acknowledgment, not wanting to do something weird like say the same thing at the same time even though they ended up doing it anyway.

"Are we splitting up?" They both glared at the other for speaking at the same time and turned to face Jesse more completely.

"Yes we are. I **was** going to put you two together but since you can't even pretend to act civilly I'm want you," he pointed at Brennan, "to go with Lexa and you're coming with me." Shalimar smiled apologetically while Brennan just shrugged with a muttered "Whatever.."

They discussed their plans about another hour, going over any possible mishap and detail they might have missed from stealthy entrance to the escape plan. As soon as everyone could recite the general plan forwards and backwards Shalimar went back to Selene and Brennan went to the guest room. Lexa and Jesse both leaned back on the couch as soon as they left and let out the breaths they didn't know they were holding.

"So... do you still think this will work?" He shrugged helplessly and she cuddled into his side.

"I have **no** idea anymore... but I know it better work. For Adam's sake." Lexa nodded against his shoulder and ran her hands up and down his arm absently.

* * *

"So this is all going to happen-" 

"Tonight." In her anxiousness Shal cut Selene off and the shorter woman had to hold back her amused giggle. "Can you believe it? I mean I never thought it would actually happen. Its surreal and everything yanno? I haven't seen- Why are you giggling?"

Selene burst out laughing at the annoyed look on Shalimar's face. "Honey you were going to start rambling. It's funny in a cute sort of way." Shalimar pouted which caused the redhead to laugh some more.

"So glad I'm so amusing to you..." She sat on the bed with a petulant look on her face and Selene finally stopped laughing.

"Awww poor baby. Is thinking about the big Rambo-esque rescue attempt making you nervous?" The blonde nodded reluctantly. "Well then lets watch some TV then ok?" The feral's eyes widened before she dove on the buttons.

"No! I'll be fine I swear. Don't make me watch Jerry Springer again **please**!" It was Selene's turn to pout as Shalimar flipped through the channels to find something to watch.

Another hunch settled awfully in Selene's stomach as they moved closer to the movie channels and she knew it would be a bad idea to look through there. As unnerving as it was to have a second hunch in just this one day she knew it was for a reason.

"Honey why don't you just come to bed ok? Take a nap?" Selene scooted back and slid under the covers, patting the space beside her seductively. Shal's head turned to look at her and she unconsciously continued to flip channels -right past one of her favorite movies which happened to run at least two hours long. As Shal flipped the TV off and tossed the already forgotten buttons away and pinned Selene beneath her for a second time in less than 24 hours, the redhead let out the breath she'd been holding before concentrating on the feral again.

* * *

The members of Mutant X met once again at Jesse's apartment, Selene now amongst them as Shalimar didn't want her alone in the hotel room for too long. Brennan was once again ignoring them both only pausing in this to glare at Selene heatedly until she locked eyes with him. Every time that happened he seemed to look a little less tense and Jesse was mildly alarmed at that. 

Shalimar didn't seem angry in the least with Selene around and that bugged him too. He idly considered the thought that she was being drugged by the redhead but after some thinking -and being smacked in the head by Lexa for bringing it up -made him doubt it.

"Ok we all know what we're do-" Jesse was cut off by three annoyed voices saying "Yes!" and he was mildly amused that Selene winced at the loudness of the word. Just as quickly as he felt that smugness at the fact that she was human he felt ashamed to think it.

"Alright let's go." Lexa tugged Brennan out of the room by the bicep and Jesse waited for Shalimar and Selene to say goodbye to each other.

"Are you sure you're going to be-" The blonde was cut off by Selene placing her finger on her lips.

"Shal. I'll be fine. Just promise me the same." Shalimar kissed Selene passionately and Jesse had to turn away to hide his blush. He cleared his throat after a few moments and they finally came up for air.

"I'll be back baby. I promise." Selene pecked her on the lips quickly before ushering her towards Jesse and the door. He gave her a polite smile before closing the door behind them, not bothering to lock it on the way out.

-

**A/N**: Sorry-had to repost this chap because I forgot the stupid section divider thingies


	14. Chapter 9 part 1 of 4

The car ride was silent save the music pouring from the radio. The strains of some old No Doubt song didn't help ease the tension that had settled in the over the group.

Jesse drove with Brennan riding shotgun. Lexa and Shalimar sat in the back with the blonde diagonal her ex. The two moleculars tried to make small talk but with the cold shoulder between their friends and the difficulty of talking to each other between their seats it just kind of dwindled down into more silence.

They had stopped a while ago in a gas station and changed into black clothes to help them hide better. They were all form -fitting yet comfortable and easy to maneuver in.

Jesse turned onto a dirt road and flipped his headlights off. Everyone's thoughts shifted as the adrenaline pumped through them.

Brennan was thinking bitterly that if he died, the only one that would even care would be his stupid cat. Shalimar's thoughts flickered between Selene, Adam, and what his imminent rescue would do to their relationship. Lexa was working to clear her mind with the deep breathing Jake taught her. Jesse's thoughts tried to calm himself down too but he could still feel the weights in his pockets as though they were burning through the material into his skin.

Finally, Jesse pulled off the side of the road and hid the car amongst some bushes facing away from where they had been heading. A few seconds later the were all standing around the front of the car waiting for Jesse to speak. The blonde man pulled the weights from his left pocket and handed everyone one each. They turned over the pendants in their hands, watching them glitter in what little moonlight there was. They were shaped like a large 'X' with an M in the background and seemed to be cast from pewter.

"Your new com -rings. I figured if anyone had logged onto our old signal from Adam's ring they'd be able to hunt us down before we even got near the place. Wear it under you clothes." They all nodded and slipped the necklace on. "You all know what to do?" They nodded and he smiled nervously. "Uh... can I speak with you alone for a second?" Jesse pulled Lexa off to the side leaving Shalimar and Brennan to ignore each other.

"What is it?" He felt butterflies in his stomach as she watched him put his hand into his other pocket.

"Look... I know we'll get out of here and when we do... Lexa -I love you. And I'm not sure what we're doing or where we're going after this but I **do** know that I want you to be with me wherever we go." He produced a small box from his pocket and the woman let out a small gasp at the sight of it.

"Jesse... are you?"

"Will you marry me Lexa Pierce?" His gaze turned hopeful and she felt tears stream down her face.

"Jesse of course!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the lips before pulling back and slipping the ring on. As they walked back hand-in-hand, she admired the ring with quiet awe.

Shalimar and Brennan still refused to talk to each other and both straightened up when the others approached.

"So are we going now or what?" the elemental asked impatiently.

"Yeah, let's do this." Jesse kissed Lexa quickly one last time before joining Shalimar as they walked towards the east entrance of the facility while Lexa and Brennan snuck in to work on the alarm system from the south entrance.

* * *

The man's breath floated up into the night air in a white puff as he walked around the compound on his rounds. The suit he wore was itchy and uncomfortable and he again wished he were part of the personal guard of those creepy mad scientist twins. Patrolling the perimeter had always been one of the more boring assignments and he wondered if his application for a promotion had been misplaced or simply ignored.

A sound like a snapping twig sounded to his right and he automatically snapped his MP5K towards the direction of the sound, crouching as he spun to face the darkness of the woods. That was another thing he hated about working the perimeter -if on the off chance there **was** an attack, he would never see it coming because of the damn trees.

He could feel his adrenaline pumping through his veins with excitement as it occurred to him this might be his big break -stop whoever this was from breaching the compound, be it just some meddling teenagers or a self-righteous nutter, and maybe that application would at least be glanced over.

"Daniels, report." He scrambled for his radio attached with a clip to his shoulder and muttered a quick "Daniels, everything's secure. Going to check out an odd noise. Over."

"Repeat that?"

"I'm going to che..." Daniels trailed off as his radio died on him. He shook it a few times, not understanding how that could have happened when suddenly the gun was knocked from his hands.

Two people appeared in front of him like apparitions or ghosts. One man, one woman, both dark haired. The man was at least six feet tall and the woman was somewhere around 5'5". They were both dressed in black. They both looked ready to party. As Daniels' mind processed that automatically, he brought his hands up, ready to duke it out. The two people merely glanced at each other before the man's hands-

Daniels blinked in astonishment and dropped his hands. The man was holding **electricity** in his **hands!** Suddenly Daniels didn't want to party any more and he turned tail on the two intruders all the while thinking, _'Screw the promotion application, I'm turning in my resignation!'_

* * *

Brennan sighed as the guard turned tail before throwing the telsa coil into his back. The man fell to the ground in a twitching mass and Brennan walked over to make sure he was out before carrying him into the brush next to the woods and covering him up.

They were damn lucky -he had snapped that branch when he was just out of the trees and if it hadn't been for Lexa's quick action they'd have both been riddled by bullets. Thankfully, she did act quickly and they were able to get closer instead of just frying him before his check in time. Damn lucky indeed.

Lexa brought the com -pendant to her lips and whispered their status into it before pointing to an emergency exit underneath a floodlight and camera. Brennan nodded and walked back into the trees before making a run for the door. He pressed himself directly underneath the camera and out of its range of view before pulsing electricity through the door, shorting the alarm. He made a thumbs up motion to where Lexa had been standing but she wasn't there.

He opened the door minutely and held it open for a bit and she whispered a thanks as she brushed past him. He remained outside while she checked to see if the coast was clear. A rap on the window behind him told him it was and he eased inside. He raised his pendant to his lips and whispered, "We've breached. Heading to the control room."

* * *

Shalimar and Jesse weren't having such good luck. The guards on their end were all chatting around the door as if they were watching a football game instead of guarding a multi-million dollar facility. The blondes sighed in annoyance as they started talking about how wasted they'd gotten the weekend before. They calmed down a little when Lexa reported in, and when they had gotten Brennan's report they had gotten a little more restless.

With their team in it would only be a few minutes until the alarm was down and they were able to phase through the wall and search for Adam without having to worry about blaring alarms and such. In fact, with the other two in the control room they could tell Shalimar and Jesse exactly where to go and shorten this all up immensely.

* * *

Lexa gripped Brennan's arm tightly as they walked through the halls in an effort to keep him invisible with her. Thankfully their shoes hadn't tracked anything and weren't squeaking noticeably so no one was the wiser of their existence.

"It should be just ahead..," was whispered into the elemental's ear and he nodded. "Don't short it though."

They suddenly came upon a heavy looking door blast door and there was no way they could get through it. Brennan was suddenly wishing Jesse had volunteered to come with him instead of Lexa but decided that was an unfair thought -it was after all his fault they had to split like this in the first place.

"Jesse, we can't get through the door."

After a few moments a hushed 'Don't worry' came through the com -pendant and they just waited.

* * *

Jesse climbed down the tree carefully while Shalimar walked off to the right having already dropped gracefully to the ground moments ago. Jesse saw her every now and then but he only really knew where she was when she snapped a rather large stick about 20 feet away. All three guards' guns snapped up immediately and though they headed that way Shalimar was already below him. He dropped the remaining few feet and grabbed her hand. Together they phased through the wall and into the building.

Shalimar was a little disoriented after about 20 or so walls but Jesse seemed only concerned in reaching their teammates. The few guards that actually saw them had thought nothing of it other than that they really needed to lay off the Jack Daniels next shift.

By the time they finally found Lexa and Brennan Shalimar nearly collapsed on the floor because of how weak in the knees she felt after being phased for so long. Lexa immediately crouched down next to her and wrapped her in a hug, turning them both invisible in the process, as Jesse and Brennan phased through the blast door. Several long minutes later the doors slid open for the two women and they ushered themselves in quickly.


	15. Chapter 9 part 2 of 4

There were two guards sitting knocked out on the ground off to the side of the control room. Other than them twitching every now and then they were perfectly still. Lexa and Jesse sat at the computer stations with Shalimar and Brennan over their shoulders. Both moleculars' hands moved over the keys so fast they were almost a blur and Brennan was impressed as always at their computer skills. Shalimar was glancing around the monitors with a scrutinizing eye before settling on the view of one hallway with restricted signs posted all around it.

"Could that be it?" Jesse sighed again.

"I'm not going to tell you again Shal: give us a minute ok?" She shrugged nonchalantly but still scanned the room.

"Bingo." Lexa had finally broken through the encryption and was in the floor plans. "It says they're here," she pointed to a large wing of the facility and Shalimar smiled in triumph that she was right.

"Let's get going then."

"Wait Shal, the alarms." She paused then turned impatiently.

"Well, you gonna get rid of them or what?" Brennan glared at her heatedly before starting on the alarm system. After a few minutes, he stood up from his work and nodded. Shalimar grabbed Jesse and led him out of the room. Lexa sighed before grabbing Brennan and doing trailing after them. The four of them walked carefully down the hallways until they came to their first wall.

After a few moments of organizing they all phased right through it and came to a hallway in the shape of a 'T'.

"Which way?" Shalimar listened for a second and more commotion was heard to the left.

"This way." She walked left along the wall a bit before grabbing Lexa's arm and raising her eyebrows meaningfully.

* * *

Greg shifted in his seat tensely. Sweat lined his upper lip and he could taste it as his tongue slipped out to wet them. The others were sitting around him just as tense if not more.

"Do you have any threes?"

"Go fish." Greg groaned in annoyance. He didn't even want to play this stupid game in the first place. He'd rather be in the stupid cafeteria or just hiding in the bathroom the entire shift than have to deal with these losers. It was all so unfair.

He drew a card. A three. He grinned as he laid the rest of his cards on the table and stood up. "I win." He walked towards the hallway only to fly back as an invisible force struck him in the face. Greg landed on the card table with his nose gushing blood and the other guards whipped their guns out. Two women appeared around the corner but before they could pull the trigger, the dark haired one rubbed her hands together and formed a blinding flash between them. Guns clattered to the ground and the guards screamed in pain before the blonde knocked them out with a few well-placed punches.

"Come on guys." The guys came around the corner and walked right past the fallen guards. The group placed a hand on Jesse and phased through the door easily. Two guards on the other side were quickly put down by Brennan's telsa coil.

They walked down the hallway and stepped gingerly over the guards. As they turned a corner they could see the other guards down the hallway and jumped back. A spray of bullets slammed into the wall they were previously standing in front of.

"Lexa." Jesse held out his hand to her and she grabbed it. Moments later an invisible and phased couple walked down the hall until they were past the guards who had no idea where they were. As soon as all four guards were almost at Shalimar and Brennan, they unphased. Lexa shot a beam of light through the suit of one and he fell in a heap on the ground. The others whipped around and open fired but Jesse had already massed in front of Lexa, protecting her from the rain of bullets.

Shalimar and Brennan could hear the shooting and ran out to see bullets bouncing off of Jesse but they knew it wouldn't last long. Shalimar walked up, kicked the back of one guard's knees, and grabbed him by the back of the neck as he fell. The guard on his right turned to her but Brennan got him with a telsa coil before he could shoot. Shalimar took the guard she had and slammed his face into the ground, knocking him out instantly.

When there was only one guard left the blonde woman just walked up behind him and tapped his shoulder. When he turned she cold cocked him and he fell in a heap at her feet as well. Jesse unmassed and without a second thought continued down the hallway.

For some reason there were no guards down this one and that made Jesse uneasy. He couldn't help think that this was all just too easy. He pushed the thought aside and phased the team through the door.

Two men stood in front of a model of the genetic code. One had wild white hair and Frito-like fingernails. The other had hair that was darker but with the occasional grey mixed in. It wasn't as long as the Creators', but it looked like it hadn't been cut in months.

"Adam!" They both whipped around in complete surprise.

"Jesse?" Lexa held a beam of light in her hand and pointed it at the Creator.

"He's coming with us." Jesse grabbed the confused Adam by the bicep and dragged him toward the rest of the group. Lexa shot the beam into the communication pad next to the door on the opposite side of the room before grabbing onto Jesse. They all phased and ran through the wall leaving the bewildered Creator behind.

* * *

The team leapt through the walls non-stop. Somehow the word got out that they were there and guards kept appearing with guns at the ready to blast them away. All five of them were breathing heavily when they finally made it out and into the woods. They lay on the ground for a few moments to catch their breaths before getting up and haphazardly making their way back to the car.

They crouched next to the road in the bushes as several Hummers drove by and as soon as they were gone they all scurried into Jesse's car. The tires kicked up dirt as they sped off back to the new Sanctuary.

After Jesse had put all the security measures in place they settled into the living room. Shalimar was already asleep in an armchair and Brennan was playing video games in another room of the building. Jesse and Adam were in the lab checking the older man's health out and Lexa was in the kitchen fixing herself some hot cocoa.

"Jesse... I don't know what to say about all this."

"We're sorry we couldn't come sooner Adam. Really. It's just that there was no way we could get you before and-"

"No, listen to me Jesse. I'm glad I was in there as long as I was. Even though I worried about you all every day you have no idea how satisfying it was to be able to work with whatever I needed whenever I needed. I got a lot done there and I've finally found a way to help-" He cut himself off quickly and looked away.

"Help who?"

"No one... We did figure out how to stop the expiration date of mutants from killing them."

"You did? That's fantastic!" Jesse clapped Adam on the shoulder good-naturedly as a slightly edgy feral walked through the doorway.

"Can I call Selene? I can't sleep very well without her..." She was so sleepy she didn't notice Adam's eyes widen slightly at the statement.

"Sure there's a phone in the living room. You know my home number right?" She nodded agitatedly before leaving the room.

"Selene?"

"Yeah, her girlfriend... I should not have said that. She should have told you that. Sorry." Jesse rubbed his eyes tiredly. They all felt exhausted from the constant phasing and if he hadn't been practicing over the years they'd all be guinea pigs captured by the Dominion by now.

"Jesse, are you sure this is the right number?" called Shalimar from the living room.

"Yeah why?" She walked in looking slightly worried.

"Because there's no answer." His eyes widened vaguely and Adam watched the entire thing with a curious look on his face. "Jesse I'm worried I want to go get her."

"Shalimar-"

"Now Jesse." Her eyes flashed dangerously and he knew he was on thin ice.

"Alright alright. Adam stay here with Lexa and Brennan, tell them where we've gone ok?" The older man nodded as they left the room.

* * *

"Oh no no no no no..." Shalimar jumped over the busted down door of Jesse's apartment without a thought. "Selene!" Jesse carefully stepped over the door as Shalimar rushed down the hall where the bedrooms where. A quick glance around showed him it was no robbery that took place in here: his stereo, TV and rather expensive wine collection were all in tact. Not even a CD was missing.

"Jesse she's not here!" the panic stricken feral announced as she rushed back into the room.

"What do you mean she's not here?"

"**She's not here**!" She began to hyperventilate and he led her to the couch.

"Relax Shalimar maybe she's-"

"Hello Jesse. Or would you prefer to be called Devon?" They both looked up at the TV where the Creator sat in a chair in the room they took Adam from. "Whichever you prefer, I'm sure you know by now that we have your friend," he gestured behind him with his hand and the camera swung to show an unconscious Selene on an operating table. "I'd say we're even are we not?" Jesse had to restrain Shalimar from planting her foot through the television.

"But I'm sure you realize by now that from my point of view, this isn't what I want. So here's what we do. You give Adam back to us in a meet that will be set up in a few days, and we'll bring back Selene here more or less in tact. You decide." A phone number flashed across the screen and Jesse wrote it down on the back of his hand quickly before the screen faded and Shalimar threw a lamp through it.

After the glass settled on the ground a wracking sob left her throat and she fell to her knees. Jesse picked her up and placed her back on the couch gently.

"Shhh... its ok Shal... she'll be fine."

"No she won't! And it's all my fault!" She sobbed harder.

He rocked her gently and led her from the apartment to his car.


	16. Chapter 9 part 3 of 4

"Oh man...," was muttered from Brennan as Jesse finished filling them in on what had happened. Shalimar was sleeping fitfully on the couch with tears still staining her face and the elemental felt a sudden flash of sympathy for her.

Jesse nodded gravely. "I know."

"What are we going to do?" Lexa asked worriedly.

"What do you think we're going to do? We're going to get her back!" Brennan grabbed his jacket from a chair and stalked out of the room without them.

"Wait Brennan you can't! We're totally not prepared and they'll be expecting us," Jesse shouted to him.

"So what you just want to leave her in there? They could **kill** her. We can't let that happen."

"I thought you didn't even like her."

"That's true but I'm not about to let her **die **if there's something we can do about it."

Brennanwalked out to the garage and started the car up without them but was surprised when it opened and Lexa hopped in next to him.

"You make a good point Bren." He smiled thankfully and she returned it with a warm smile of her own. "Let's go get her back to Shalimar ok?"

* * *

The facility was still in chaos somewhat when the dark haired duo arrived. Guards were frantically running everywhere, shouting at their subordinates and scrambling futilely with the alarm system. 

Lexa and Brennan approached the southern entrance stealthily and were surprised that the guards posted there before were all off -probably doing their jobs for once. The elemental turned and smiled at Lexa with a cocky grin and after grabbing her hand, pushed the door open and just walked in. They followed the hallways carefully, only stopping to press themselves to the wall as someone walked by, and soon found themselves once again deep in the Dominion but in another part of it. They knew the labs and holding cells were near here from the schematics they'd seen earlier -it was just a matter of which she was in -holding cell or lab?

"Which way?" came the hushed whisper from Lexa and Brennan shrugged only to remember they were invisible.

"Dunno..." They both thought about it for a few moments and the phrase Jesse mentioned -"More or less in tact" -kept popping up in his head. "The labs." Lexa made to protest but thought better of it -it was a 50/50 chance he was right anyway.

They turned left down the hallway and the closer they got the more voices they heard. It wasn't like with Adam when there were no guards around. There had to have been half a dozen guards standing around the door at the end of the hallway alone. With a sickening dread he realized the reason there were no guards on Adam was because they were probably off getting Selene. He pushed it aside, not bothering to dissect why he suddenly felt so protective of the redhead other than guilt at being so rude to her and Shalimar, and pulled Lexa back from the hallway.

"Now what do we do?" he asked her. They paused a few more moments before he felt a tugging on his arm. "What? What is it?" He still couldn't see her but he felt where she was tugging him.

* * *

Jerry stood stock still outside the lab doors swelling with pride. He knew this assignment -no matter how easy -was top priority. No one would get by him on his watch -in fact, no one would get in the labs at all. He made sure of that when he picked his team. 

His nose began to tingle slightly and he sneezed several times as he breathed in dust. After glancing around to determine where it came from -and to glare at the team for smirking at him -he shrugged it off as nothing and continued to keep a watchful eye out for intruders.

* * *

Brennan fell to the ground in a crouch first. After making sure the coast was clear, he motioned up to Lexa in the ceiling to follow him. He caught her bridal style -like they would be crossing a threshold together at some point -and grinned like a daredevil. 

He was wary at first of Lexa's plan to use the ceiling and just go right over the guards' heads, but after he saw it held her weight he was pretty sure it was safe. They had both frozen when that guard sneezed but quickly picked up the pace as he brushed it off. Now the hallways were deserted and Lexa grabbed his hand again as they set off down it.

Sounds drew their attention to the right as they approached a fork in the road, and they paused for a moment to listen before trotting quietly down the hallway. As they got farther down the hall, the sound became more and more clear to them -screaming. There were suddenly passing rooms with cut away walls that were closed off with mirrors you could see through -like the view window at a hospital so medical students could learn from watching. Some had mutants housed in them, others were eerily empty and Brennan shrugged it off as he ran.

Several people were gathered around one people in particular taking notes and looking like they'd shit their pants they were so anxious. It didn't take a genius to know what they were watching. Brennan's teeth gritted in anger and only Lexa's hand on his shoulder held him back -literally.

They quietly approached behind the scientists and had a hard time holding back gasps of horror and rage at what they saw. Selene was strapped to a metal table with cords and needles jammed all over her body. Her head lolled to the side and she seemed completely unaware of what was going on around her. Brennan was silently glad Jesse had slipped the feral that valium with the hot cocoa Lexa gave her because if she had seen this the scientists would have been in pieces.

He couldn't take it anymore and zapped the closest three with a telsa coil. They fell mutely to the ground and the others turned with a yelp. Lexa quickly blinded them and Brennan knocked out the remaining lab techs with another coil. He then rammed his shoulder into the door and with a satisfying crack, it opened to him. He was rubbing his slightly sore shoulder when Lexa's hand on his arm made him look at her. Her face was drained of color and she raised a shaking hand towards the table.

There, on the table, was Selene. He didn't get it at first but after a few seconds she flickered -actually **flickered.** For a brief, crazy moment he thought he saw...

"Emma?"

-

**A/N**: Ok ok ok –couldn't fool ya'll. This'll probably draw to a close after all is explained (so maybe one or two chapters left to go, I haven't decided yet) but until then, review please if only to bitch at me for my evil cliffhanger.

Also, there won't be any updates next week because I'll be at my mom's and she got rid of her internet (apparently not knowing how to type hampers her ability to use it : P). I apologize in advance for this. If I'm subscribed to a fic of yours I'll read it as soon as I can, promise.

Happy Holidays everybody. : )


	17. Chapter 9 part 4 of 4

He must be insane. That was the only logical explanation for what he saw. Or tired. Phasing did wear him out and all he did when he got back was battle crazy villagers in Jesse's copy of Resident Evil 4.

_'Yeah, that **has** to be it. There's just no way I could have seen her.'_

She had already gone back to Selene once Lexa helped her off the table and Brennan suddenly had no idea how there were going to get out of here with her so weak.

"How the hell are we supposed to get out of here? We can't exactly jump through walls and in her state," he gestured at the redhead, "I wouldn't suggest it even if we could."

"I know what you mean. Guess we should have thought this through a bit huh?" She laughed nervously and he picked Selene from her arms easily. "Wait-I have an idea. Stay in here for a while." He nodded and she left quickly.

He leaned back into the table after a while, supporting the groggy Selene -or was it Emma? He couldn't tell and it was freaking him out.

On the one hand, if it was Selene he'd have to have himself committed or at least drugged out of his mind for a few weeks to relieve the stress that caused him to see his best friend. But on the **other** hand, he'd be rolling on the ground laughing at the irony that Shalimar had actually found her after all and just didn't know it after all this time.

But why didn't she just tell them outright? Why would she keep her identity a secret. That he couldn't figure out. Unless... Unless maybe -like Adam -she too was being hunted.

_'But what about the way she looks? Emma's power was telempathy, not an Illusionist. So it can't be her.' _

He nodded slightly to himself and adjusted Selene in his arms wondering where Lexa was with her 'big plan.'

* * *

The molecular left Brennan alone with Selene and stalked over to the unconscious scientists. She pulled their lab coats off and searched through the pockets for a while until she found what she was looking for -a key card. As they ran past the lab -cells she noticed a card slot on the side of each one and now that she had a keycard in hand she knew what it was for. She tossed the lab coats to the ground and set off to the first occupied cell. A man with long dark hair, a shaggy beard, and bloodshot eyes stared at her as she approached the glass. 

After contemplating for a few moments she decided to just ask him right out. "If I let you out will you help us escape?"

He stood up and warily watched her. "How the hell do I know you're for real?" He backed from the glass as far as he could until he hit the wall, sliding down into a sitting position and Lexa could see his composure slowly cracking as he did so. "You're just trying to trick me! But it won't work! It won't! Never work! I won't scream for you!" He started rocking and the glass was suddenly on fire. Luckily for Lexa the glass had been proofed against the pyromaniac's powers so he couldn't escape or hurt others outside the glass.

He moaned pitifully as his fire died out and she sighed before forming a laser-like beam of light and cutting through the glass. He watched astounded as she stepped through it and stood up slowly.

"You -You're a mutant!" His face lit up but he stayed far away from her. "You're like me! A mutant!"

"Thats right. I'm a mutant too. Now will you help us or not?" His eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.

"What do you need? What can I offer you? What do you need?" He didn't seem to notice repeating himself again and she didn't see the need in pointing it out.

"A friend of ours was captured but she's just too weak to make it out -you see she's not a mutant and they've been-" She was interrupted by him clapping his hands over his ears and letting out that pitiful moan again.

"She screams! She screams for them. I told her not to! I tried to help her but she **screamed**! And they **smiled**! They made her scream more and they smiled more! She pleaded for death but they wouldn't give it to her and so she just screamed and screamed until she was hoarse and then she screamed some more! And they laughed! They laughed and I **wept **for her! I weep for her... I **tried**... help her..." He collapsed to the ground and clutched his knees to his chest as he wept uncontrollably.

Lexa was taken off guard by the out burst before nodding slowly. "...Exactly. She's so weak she can't even move much. But you can help her now. We just need someone to help us with the guards so we can get her out of here. Then we'll help her get better. And you can go free too if you wish. I promise." He walked slowly toward her after nodding.

"All right.." There was determination and a sudden clarity in his voice that made her smile before handing over the key card.

"Ok. You go and get the rest of these people out of their cells and get them to help us too, ok? I'll go tell my friends the good news." He nodded before shuffling past her and down the hallway, clutching the keycard tightly as he did so.

* * *

The doors opened behind the guards and they all stiffened and tried to look professional. Moments later several of the guards screamed and dropped their guns while running down the hallway trying to put themselves out. They were on fire. More mutants spilled from the doors of all shapes and sizes: tall, short, thin, fat, pale or red with rage, some had glowing eyes and others had something hovering between their eyes. 

The guards had no choice: they ran. The enraged mutants gave chase and were soon upon them and beating them half to death with their own weapons.

As all of this was happening Brennan and Lexa had gone straight at the fork and were hurrying toward the exit again as fast as they could while the others kept the Dominion busy. Guards even ran past them, not really noticing Brennan and Lexa carrying Selene out of the compound -it must have been the lab coats. Lexa had stripped them off the doctors and now all three of them sort of blended into the scenery. The only one who didn't was Selene but the guards must have assumed she was injured in the escape.

They made it out of the facility easily and Brennan picked Selene up in his arms easily as they sprinted into the woods and away from the Dominion.

* * *

"Jesse!" The molecular in question looked up at the sound of his name being called and turned from the unconscious Shalimar to the doorway where -miraculously -Brennan stood holding an equally unconscious Selene. He blinked and suddenly felt guilty for not going with if just the two of them had been successful before snapping out of it and leaping to his feet. 

"How is she?"

"I don't know man. Hasn't woken up since we got there." Jesse nodded and led Brennan to the medical lab.

"Put her on here." Brennan placed her carefully on the table. "Wheres-?"

"Staying with Shalimar." Jesse nodded in relief and set about his routine of playing doctor with Selene.

Brennan watched him go through the motions without really seeing anything. The elemental was pondering whether to tell Jesse about Selene flickering into Emma. He would either be put away or-

_'Who am I kidding? I'll be locked away for good.'_

It occured to him that Lexa had seen the same thing but he still didn't know how to bring it up or anything other than to just blurt it out.

"Wheres Adam?"

"Right here." Brennan spun to see Adam standing in the doorway looking slightly pale in the med lab light.

"You mind giving me a hand here?" Adam came in and they both went about hooking Selene up to monitors and running tests on her. After they were done Adam looked down at Selene with the strangest expression on his face before turning and leaving the room quickly. Both the younger men looked after him with confused expressions before Brennan moved closer to Jesse.

"Jesse man, there's something I have to tell you. I saw..." He took a deep breath and glanced around before leaning close to whisper to Jesse. "Emma. I saw her Jess. She's- She might be alive after all!" Jesse backed away with a horror stricken gaze.

"No.. NO! Don't you **tell **me she was locked up in there! Don't you-"

"Shhh shh no Jess no. She- She's in this room **right** **now**." His eyes moved to Selene and both men just stared at her with awe.

"What do you mean Brennan?" the molecular asked quietly.

"She- Selene -flickered. I saw Emma. Clear as day. Ask Lexa, she saw her too." Jesse shook his head.

"Its not possible. I **saw** her die. I saw it Brennan. Its just not possible-"

"We thought Adam was dead too but he's just fine isn't he-"

"We never **saw** Adam **die**! I watched Emma slip away with my own eyes Brennan. Don't feed me this shit." He stalked away from Brennan to gather the results from his tests.

"Jesse... I'm not playing with you. I saw her. I know what you saw and I'm not saying you're a liar or anything but- if Adam came back to us isn't anything possible?" Jesse said nothing and kept his back to the elemental who sighed and left the room.


	18. Chapter 10

The feral began to stir on the couch with a quiet moan and Lexa smiled as she looked up from her book to the blonde then back again. Shalimar twisted to face away from the cushions and ended up rolling off the couch and onto the floor. Lexa held her hand over her mouth in a feeble attempt to keep from laughing out loud but when the other woman's head poked up from the other side of the coffee table she couldn't hold it in any longer -the expression of sleepy confusion was just too cute.

The blonde blinked a few times to clear her eyes before her sleep addled mind processed that A-she was on the floor and B-she had fallen off the couch. It took her a few minutes to realize that she was on the couch because Selene was gone. Taken. Possibly hurt.

Tears sprang in her eyes and she lay back down on the floor before springing back up with her eyes glowing as she headed for the door.

"She's in the med lab Shal." Lexa lazily flipped a page of her book as the confused and irritated feral stared at her.

"What-," she paused. The blonde ran straight toward the medical lab and burst through the doorway anxiously. As soon as she saw her girlfriend lying unconscious on the cot, she was by her side almost immediately.

"Shal, take it easy, she need to re- Don't you glare at me." The blonde forced her eyes to stop glowing before pulling herself up next to her and Jesse just sighed. "Be careful with her at least. She's weak and from what Brennan an-"

"Brennan saved her?" This genuinely surprised the feral.

"Yeah, I'm as shocked as you are but they did. You should thank him you know, he's off in the game room playing Resident Evil again I think." She nodded as she slid off the bed.

"When will she wake up?"

"A few hours or so, I gave her a sedative-"

"You gave me one too, didn't you?" She glared playfully at him and he smiled sheepishly.

"You were ready to rip them limb from limb Shal, I couldn't let you risk getting yourself captured and having both you and Selene trapped in the Dominion."

She sighed and ran a tired hand through her hair. "I guess... I'll be back soon." She waved her hand behind her and he shook his head at the gesture before turning to his desk drawer. As he opened it Adam stepped into the room with a cheery smile, which faltered slightly as Jesse produced a hypodermic needle.

"What's that for?"

"Selene. I'm going to run a blood test-"

"Let me do it." The older man stepped forward and snatched the needle from Jesse before the molecular could protest. "You need to rest. Now go go go- I can work the machines just fine without you and besides, I know more about what Dominion's been up to than you do." Jesse suddenly felt like he was missing something, something big, but shrugged it off as his trust of Adam came to the fore along with a well-timed yawn.

"I suppose you're right. If you need me I'll be down the hall, wake me when she's up ok?" Adam nodded absently as he approached Selene and after a moment's hesitation Jesse left.

* * *

"Oh come on you prick! Why won't you die?" Brennan switched to his item cache and equipped his shotgun before going back to game play and blasting away one of the Los Illuminati he'd shot in the head earlier. Several of them fell to the ground and he grinned triumphantly. "Take that!"

The door opened quietly and he was so wrapped up in the game he didn't know someone had entered until a soft 'Hey' caused him to jump and knock over his soda. He paused it quickly before his head snapped to the doorway.

"Jesus Shal, you scared the shit out of me."

"You went in for her-for Selene." It was a statement and he suddenly felt like he was on thin ice.

"Yeah..."

"Why?" He glared minutely at her.

"No thanks?" She sighed and sat in the chair next to his.

"Of course I'm thankful -it's not even a question of that Brennan. I just want to know why. I mean it's not like you two knew each other more than a day -hell you didn't even like her."

There was silence before he muttered something she didn't catch and he had to repeat himself.

"I said, I don't know why. I just... I knew I had to. Something felt like it was pulling me there, like I couldn't stop myself even if I tried." She regarded him warily before nodding in acceptance.

"I see. Well... thank you Brennan." She stood up then bent over and hugged him tightly. "You should get some rest, you know? You look like hell. Not to mention if you can miss something that close with a shotgun you're runnin' on empty." He smacked her on the arm playfully and they both felt the coldness between them lift for the time being before she left to go back to the lab.

* * *

Adam was capping the needle when the feral walked in. He turned to her and smiled warmly.

"Hello Shalimar. How are you?" She couldn't help but smile back at him.

"I'm fine, little tired but fine. What about you?"

"Oh I got a nap in earlier..." He noticed her eyes flicking between the needle and Selene and a protective gleam shone in her brown orbs. "Blood test." She nodded slowly but cautiously.

"Why does she need them?" He refused to fidget under her gaze.

"She was in there for a few hours Shalimar, that's long enough for them to do just about anything to her. From what Brennan and Lexa said about her when they found her I'm pretty sure they **did** do everything they could to her in that short time." He broke off that train of thought and stepped closer to the lost looking blonde. As he enveloped her in a hug, she began to shake with tears forming in her eyes and he stroked her hair soothingly. The blonde buried her face in his shoulder and he whispered comforting words in her ear.

Lexa watched all of this from the doorway with a smile on her face before looking over at the sleeping redhead. When her eyes met Selene's she nearly fell over in surprise before rushing off to get Jesse.

* * *

Selene had been pacing the apartment anxiously when they came. A knock on the door made her pause midstride.

"Who is it?" There was no answer and suddenly a feeling of terror ripped through her and she ran down the hallway and locked herself in Jesse's room. There was a crash in the living room and she ducked into the closet while biting back a scream. Heavy footsteps sounded down the hallway and she could hear voices getting closer while talking to someone still in the living room. She silently prayed they wouldn't find her but as the closet door was ripped open she knew it was just in vain.

She remembered blacking out, then waking up in pain. A man with long white hair and gross fingernails stood across the room from her and she felt herself begin to shake silently.

"Well well well... what do we have here? I thought you were dead Miss DeLauro." The name tugged something in the back of her mind but she shook it off.

"Who-" She cut herself off with a scream as currents ran through her body turning the pain into agony.

"Don't speak just yet." He stepped closer to her and stroked her cheek and she wanted nothing more than to call for Shalimar even though it wouldn't help. "Simply amazing what you've become my dear. Simply amazing..." His stare burned into her and he suddenly grabbed a mirror from a nearby table and held it up for her to see her reflection -only the person staring back at her was someone else.

Blue eyes, dark red hair, not brown eyes and red-orange hair at all. Darkness overtook her as she fainted, the overwhelming circumstances just too much for her.

And now she was here, in another lab but she knew she was safe here.

_'Had it been a dream?.. or- or a trick?'_ She decided it must've been because she knew that person in the mirror wasn't her.

Her eyes met Lexa's and the molecular backed from the room quickly, which in turn caught the attention of her girlfriend and the man who was hugging her. Shalimar exclaimed something loudly but Selene couldn't hear her because of how focused she was on the other person as he all but ran from the room with his hand blocking his face partially from view.

Shalimar was suddenly placing kisses on her all over and when she finally pulled back all Selene could say was, "I know him."


	19. Chapter 11

Adam stared at the computer screen and was only mildly surprised at the blue eyes, flaming red hair, and engaging smile of the woman that stared back at him.

He had known almost instantly upon seeing 'Selene' to know she was Emma- he was, after all, the person who had arranged it all. But to see her here, now, with the team again -it was overwhelming and extremely alarming. She wasn't supposed to be there. She was supposed to be safe, but no -the team had split up and somehow Shalimar found her way back to Emma.

He ran a hand through his hair as he let out a frustrated sigh. Footsteps echoed down the hall and he clicked Emma's face from the screen before tossing the lab results into the shredder next to the computer. Jesse paused just inside the door with a frown on his face as he pointed to the shredder.

"What was that?" Adam felt like a deer in the headlights but managed to quell the urge to look like one.

"The test results for Selene. She's perfectly all right so I-"

"So you **shredded **them?"

"It's become habit over the years, sorry."

It was the molecular's turn to run a hand through his hair in frustration. "No, no it's ok. It's fine. I'll just redo it later-"

"I said she was fine." Adam winced inside at the sharp tone of his voice and managed to fight back the tinge of panic inside him. "I'm sorry but if you don't trust me-"

"No!" Jesse scrambled to apologize to Adam. "No it's not that I don't trust you it's just nice to keep records, you know?" He stretched his arms a little bit before gesturing towards the lab with his thumb. "I'm gonna go check on her now ok?" Adam nodded and when the younger man left he let out a sigh of relief and pride-guilt tripping still works.

* * *

Shalimar leaned back with a confused look on her face. 

"What do you mean? You can't know Adam."

"But I do I swea-" she cut herself off with a yawn and Shal smiled in understanding before kissing the redhead's forehead and walking towards the door.

"You're tired, not thinking straight. I'll get Jesse in here to see you ok?" Selene sat up to protest but froze as she began to move. Her face turned pale and Shalimar pushed her back down on the bed. "Don't move, just lie down and let me get Jesse." The blonde left before Selene could try to protest again.

Selene leaned back into the bed with a wince and stared straight up at the ceiling out of boredom.

_'I **do** know that man... I could never forget him...'_

* * *

_Flashback_

The woman's eyes blinked open slowly only to shut as the lights overhead nearly blinded her.

"Selene, can you hear me?"

_'Is that me? Am I Selene?'_

"If you can hear me Selene, open your eyes." Her eyes opened momentarily and she found it seemed less bright. Brown eyes stared into her own eyes and she found herself feeling calm and comfortable in this unfamiliar place.

"Where am I?" Her voice was slightly scratchy and for some reason it felt foreign to her, which confused the redhead for a moment before she shrugged it off.

"You're in the hospital, you were in a nasty car accident but you're fine now." She was tempted to believe that but tears welled in her eyes as she tried to think.

"No, it can't be right. I didn't remember who I was just a few moments ago, not until you told me anyway." He frowned slightly and picked up his clipboard.

"Well you were hit in the head pretty hard... I suppose you might have amnesia, though your cat scan certainly didn't predict it..." He walked out of the room muttering about tests and she was left alone again. Music was suddenly coming over the speakers in the room and everything flashed past her eyes -her parents, her school, moving to San Francisco, even the accident. The doctor came in a few moments later with the clipboard again.

"I suppose more tests are-"

"No, no. Its fine now, I can remember again." He looked at her quizzically and she blushed. "I guess it was just a momentary thing." He smiled warmly at her before nodding and leaving the room.

_End flashback_

_

* * *

_Jesse bumped into Shal on his way to the med lab and she nearly dragged him the rest of the way there. 

"She's delusional. She says she **knows** Adam, like they met before." He squirmed uncomfortably as she turned him to face her. "Will she be ok? She's ok, right?" Her panicked gaze burned into him and he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm positive. She'll be just fine." A voice in the back of his mind reminded him that he actually hadn't **seen** the test results; therefore, he couldn't be completely **sure** she was all right, but the part of him loyal to Adam squashed that thought immediately. Shalimar nodded but still looked worried and he led her back to the room by her elbow.

"Jesse, if she **isn't** ok... I want you to tell me right now." Her eyes burned into his and he felt cornered.

"Well... Adam was the one who ran the test and he says she's ok so I belie-"

"You don't know the results?" Her eyes widened slightly then narrowed in anger. "Then you don't **know** for sure, do you? You're just taking his word."

"Shalimar, this is **Adam** we're talking about. He wouldn't try and trick us about this."

"How do we know? We haven't seen him for years, we have no idea what he could or would do."

"Shalimar, you're tired, not thinking straight." She noted cynically how ironic it was that he was repeating the words she said to Selene to her but didn't mention it. "This will all pass soon, ok?"

"But she sounded so **sure **when she said it even though I know it's impossible... But then it could be from- from the-" She cut herself off by biting her lips and blinking rapidly. He could feel doubt creeping into his mind and momentarily indulged it.

"He was off doing something before he started contacting you... Maybe... No." He shook his head to dismiss the thought before leading the worried and still guilty feral to the lab.

* * *

Adam leaned back into the room and let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. A hand ran itself through his hair as he decided to just let them do whatever while he slept in one of the rooms in the new Sanctuary. 

_'They'll find out eventually anyway... Might as well be now...'_


	20. Chapter 12

Jesse hummed tunelessly as he got another sample of Selene's blood for testing. The woman in question was currently sleeping soundly before him, more than likely still working through the damage her body had received from the Dominion. His teeth gritted unconsciously but he forced himself to calm down before turning to the computer behind him.

He squirted the needle full of blood into a small vial before throwing the needle in the bio-waste bin and placing the vial inside one of the holders in the expensive machine before him that would analyze the sample. It hummed to life after a second and Jesse turned away to finish a program he'd been working on earlier. Minutes later the printer spat out the report and he reluctantly left his work to pick it up. The computer attached to the expensive machine was currently blue with an hourglass turning over and over on it to show it was loading.

"What the...?" Jesse frowned and looked down at the paper he was holding and read it over as the computer continued to search.

_'What the hell is this? That shouldn't be doing that...' _

The computer was programmed with a database for mutant DNA to better aid in identifying possible enemies and he was pretty sure Selene wasn't one of those mutants.

_'But what if what Brennan said was true..? What if she **is** a mutant -an illusionist.'_ The molecular shook his head. _'No, that can't be it. Even if that were the case, why in the world would she turn into Emma of all people?' _

He shook his head again in confusion and continued to scan the sheet, pausing when he read the words 'Subject Identified: 0001.' Jesse knew that number by heart.

When he had first gotten the machine, it had sat in its box for about a week before Jesse figured out something to do with it -the database. He had been excited and started collecting what DNA samples he could from willing mutants in local bars and clubs he went to but he reserved the first entry -the test entry that would determine whether it would work -was for Emma.

His throat worked to swallow the sick feeling he had rising in his throat. Brennan had seen her, Lexa had seen her too apparently, and Adam was obviously trying to hide this from him-

_'Am I the only one who didn't know?'_ After thinking about that for a few seconds he firmly decided no on that. If Shalimar had known she would have told him as soon as she saw him, of that he was positive. His 'little sister' had always been close to Emma, best of friends; even, as he had recently begun to suspect what with Selene being a girl and all, more than friends.

His train of thought broke when Adam stepped through the doorway.

"Jesse, could I talk to-" His eyes landed on the screen and he froze completely. "Oh..." Jesse blinked in disbelief.

"Oh?" Adam remained silent. "OH! All you have to say is 'Oh'!" The molecular seethed in anger and hurt that Adam didn't tell them. "How could you not tell us? How!" Adam flinched minutely at the tone in Jesse's voice before sighing in defeat.

"Jesse... It's not that I didn't want to tell you-"

"Then why didn't you?" the blonde demanded.

"She asked me not to..." The younger man scoffed at that and Adam shook his head. "She did. Jesse there's a lot you don't understand about this –there's a lot Emma didn't want you to know."

"Don't you mean 'doesn't'? She's not dead Adam," Jesse accused.

"No, I mean didn't. Emma is Selene now..." He ran a hand through his hair. "It's hard to explain."

"Explain anyway." Adam paused only momentarily before straightening up.

"Its not that it's complicated -it just may be more than you can understand. Something was happening to her Jesse. Something no one could have foreseen -except maybe the Creator. That's why I told you and the rest to leave without me; I needed to stay with him as long as possible to get what was needed."

"And what was needed Adam?" Jesse had calmed down on the outside but his mind was racing.

"A cure."

_Flashback.._

Adam was at the computer station as the team was out on a mission -well, most of the team. He had made Emma stay home. Lately she'd been having headaches like mad and he was beginning to get worried about her -especially when her eyes began to change colors randomly. He'd confronted her about it about half an hour before the team left and after arguing for a while, she finally gave in.

Currently the psionic in question was off meditating and he stretched as he stood, prepared to go find her. He stepped through the doorway and the words died on his lips as he took in the woman lying on the ground where Emma usually sat. Her hair was red-orange, not flame red, she was pale, significantly shorter than Emma was, and -though her eyes were closed-, he bet her eyes weren't the blue orbs they all knew so well.

"Emma?" He rushed to her side and as the woman stirred the image around her flicked back into Emma. The redhead blinked up at him in confusion and he smiled warmly though worry shone through his eyes.

"Wha-?" She held her head in her hands for a moment and he could see blood trickle from her nose before he scooped her up and carried her to the lab.

"Emma why didn't you tell me about this?" Tears were in her eyes as she shook her head.

"Tell you about what?"

"Emma, you're... you're evolving."

"What?"

_End Flashback_

Jesse sat down in a chair and could feel his chest clench tightly as the gravity of what Adam said sunk in.

"She was... changing?"

"Yes. Her powers were growing -she began to practice when everyone was out and we discovered she had developed limited precognition as well as illusionist powers."

"Well... Why didn't she tell us? Did she think we'd be afraid of her?" Jesse's hurt voice caused Selene to stir slightly on the bed but she didn't wake up.

"No... She didn't want you to worry." Confusion clearly showed on Jesse's face.

"Worry? About what?"

"Jesse... She was dying." The tense silence that followed was only broken by a 'thud' from the hallway. They only had to glance at each other for a moment before rushing out to find the blonde feral had fainted outside the doorway. Jesse groaned and rubbed his temples before bending over and picking her up to carry back to the bedroom he had reserved for her.


	21. Chapter 13

A/N: Eeek! Sorry for the delay everybody, I've had exams to study for and my drivers ed test to take (the written, not the driving) and so I had to keep putting off updating. Anyway, all that has passed so here's the next chapter. I hope the length makes up for the lateness, if you don't understand something just PM me or ask in a review.

When Shalimar woke again she found herself lying on a bed in a strange room. Figuring it was just the hotel, she shrugged and turned over to pull Selene too her and was met with empty space. She bolted upright with a frown before everything came back to her and she lay back down on the mattress.

Her frown deepened slightly as she tried to think back on how she got into this room in the first place when it hit her -the conversation in the lab then the floor rushing up to meet her face. Her chest constricted painfully as the conversation floated back to her.

* * *

_Flashback..._

"How could you not tell us? How!" Shalimar froze in her steps at the sound of Jesse's voice. She had simply been on her way to grab a bottle of water from the kitchen when she heard it begin. She had simply meant to slip on past but now curiosity got the better of her and she pressed herself against the wall to listen.

"Jesse... It's not that I didn't want to tell you-"

"Then why didn't you?" Now that she knew Adam was hiding something from them she couldn't leave -it might have something to do with the test Adam did on Selene he didn't share with her.

"She asked me not to... She did. Jesse there's a lot you don't understand about this –there's a lot Emma didn't want you to know." Shalimar suddenly felt like all the air had been knocked out of her. She clutched desperately to the wall and only lessened the grip as the initial shock wore off.

_'Why would they talk about Emma?'_ ran through her head and a million answers popped up to her but she shrugged them all off to listen to them again.

"Don't you mean 'doesn't'? She's not dead Adam," Jesse accused. Shalimar's legs suddenly couldn't support her weight and she slid down the wall to the ground.

"No, I mean didn't. Emma is Selene now... It's hard to explain." She suddenly couldn't breathe. The room was too small, not enough air despite how well ventilated the place was, and she felt numb on the inside, like she couldn't feel anything but the painfully fast beating of her own heart.

She listened numbly to the rest of what Adam and Jesse had to discuss and knew more than felt the tears coursing down her cheeks. After Adam's recounting of what had happened when they were away, she forced herself to stand up on shaky legs.

"Worry? About what?"

"Jesse... She was dying." Suddenly gravity had become too much and Shalimar felt -somehow -completely exhausted and passed out with the words still ringing in her ears.

_End flashback...

* * *

_

Now the feral sat up, the feeling of helplessness replaced by hurt and betrayal that she wasn't told about any of this. She threw the covers off of her and jerked the door open violently as she set out to find Adam.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

The entire team sat on the couch and chair in the living room -minus Shalimar of course, as she was still asleep in the bedroom -with Adam standing in front of them. Jesse sulked on the couch next to a confused Lexa while Brennan lounged in an armchair off to the side.

"So what's with the meeting Adam?" Lexa suddenly cast a worried glance at him. "Is something wrong with Shalimar? Is that why she isn't here?" Jesse placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down as the older man shook his had with a sad yet warm smile.

"No no, she's perfectly all right-"

"Then where is she?" Brennan cocked his head to the side while waiting for an answer from Adam but Jesse beat the scientist to it.

"She's in her room. Sleeping."

_'Or rather, out cold, same difference...'_

Brennan nodded at that and mused silently to himself why the feral would spend even a few seconds much less have a nap away from her girlfriend but didn't bring it up. He made a mental note to check on the two of them after the meeting was over before refocusing on Adam.

"Now Jesse tells me you two saw something while in the Dominion, something... impossible?" Both Brennan and Lexa sat up at that and nodded gravely, suddenly feeling the gravity of the situation. "You two claim you saw Emma on that table for a time?" Another nod from them and both guessed as to where the conversation was going.

Adam sighed, ran his hand through his hair, and silently debated the best way to go about this: gentle and calm, or blunt and to the point. "Emma is Selene. She's alive." Blunt won.

A pin could drop a mile away and it would sound like a roll of thunder in the silence left in the wake of the announcement.

"What?" Brennan had heard what he said but for some reason it just didn't register to him. Lexa nodded energetically to his side indicating she didn't get it either but Jesse remained oddly silent. Brennan decided he didn't like that at all.

Moments later Adam was stumbling through the explanation of the time he had discovered what Emma had been hiding from him -from everyone.

Lexa sat on the couch in a haze. She hadn't really known Emma -the only reason she recognized her in the first place was from research at the Dominion before joining up with them- so she couldn't really relate to knowing of her strange behavior towards the end of her life -or, the beginning of Selene's life as it were. It was all so confusing.

She glanced to the elemental to see him quietly seething with rage, guilt, and disbelief, not that she could blame him. Adam had kept the fact that his best friend was still alive a secret from him for years and didn't tell them until after he had made himself out to be an asshole to said friend.

After a worried glance at her boyfriend -_'Well, fiancé now...'_ -she was surprised at how emotionless his face looked.

"You knew about it?" slipped from her mouth unbidden and Brennan's head snapped around to pin Jesse with a heated glare.

"Did you?" he demanded. Jesse was silent and Brennan took that as confirmation of it and stood up angrily. "I just- I can't **believe**-!" He stormed from the room and Lexa watched him go sadly before turning to both of them. Jesse stood to follow Brennan but she yanked him back down.

"Oh no you don't. You two are going to stay here and finish explaining this, even if it's just to me." They hesitated before Adam prepared to continue with the story of Emma's last days as herself.

* * *

_Flashback... (From Emma's POV)_

"Adam, I have this under control," Emma said crossly as she walked away from the scientist in question.

"No, you don't Emma." He grabbed her arm and spun her around. "The headaches are getting worse, aren't they." It was a statement, not a question and Emma just looked at him coolly before he continued. "And now with the nosebleeds -Emma you need my help." The redhead's mood worsened and she yanked her arm from his hand.

"No, I don't. It's under control." She stalked around the corner, muttering under her breath about him, and ran straight into a worried looking Shalimar.

"Emma? What's wrong? I heard-" Emma's eyes flashed black briefly and the feral forgot what she was going to say -along with what she had overheard between her and Adam. A slightly glazed look came over the blonde's eyes before she smiled warmly and -after glancing around -pulled Emma to her and placed a kiss on her psionic's neck. "Hey sweetie..." Emma smiled in relief before wrapping her own arms around Shalimar's waist and pulling her closer to her.

Shalimar suddenly put space between them and Emma -already used to being interrupted during the times they could squeeze in a heated moment together -leant against the wall casually.

"Emma I just think- Oh, hi Shalimar."

"Hey Adam. Whats goin' on?" Adam hesitated before shaking his head.

"Nothing important." Emma watched amusedly as they began to chat, every once in a while Shal's eyes would glance at Emma longingly -whether to continue from where they were interrupted or for Adam to stop speaking in Science the redhead couldn't tell.

_End flashback..._

* * *

"So she wouldn't accept your help?" Adam sadly shook his head. 

"No, she wouldn't, and it only got worse as time went on."

"How so?" Jesse asked as he sat up, all his attention focused on Adam.

"Well, let me put it this way... Mutants can evolve at any time -Jesse, you have phasing and massing down to an art form now that you've practiced at it for all these years, but there's still a slight chance you can evolve.

"With psionics it's a sure thing that they'll change and grow as time goes on. Since their minds are being used and developed -and since to begin with people only use about 10 percent of their brainpower -they have to evolve the rest of their brains before they finish evolving completely. There has not been one case of a psionic -or any mutant for that matter -evolving completely and wholly before they self-destruct. It just becomes too much and for psionics, this happens much faster because they're always thinking, always using their powers even if it's unintentional. You, Lexa, Brennan, even Shalimar, you can all turn your powers on and off but psionics can't." Lexa sat up slowly and only hesitated slightly before asking.

"So you're saying... Emma was dying because she was getting stronger?" Adam nodded sadly.

"Her mind couldn't handle it so the evolution acted like a tumor or something inside her brain. The brain is delicate and when you evolve as fast as she did it can be deadly."

"How fast we talkin' here?" Brennan asked from the doorway with Shalimar leaning on the wall next to him with angry tears in her eyes. Adam sighed in resignation.

"She was developing two powers at once while at the same time her empathy was still growing. She was gaining the traits of an illusionist and a precog. The precog would have been enough to make her go crazy but to have three different powers running simultaneously in her mind was stressing her mind far too much."

Silence descended for a few moments while each person in turn thought Adam's words over. Shalimar felt slightly sick and somehow proud -proud that she had found Emma again but sick as she realized how much her girlfriend had kept from her. The words 'Did she not trust me?...' kept running through her head.

Lexa was fascinated by all the information Adam gave her. She hadn't really actually known Emma but from what Adam had said -and from what Jesse continually told her whenever Emma was mentioned -the brunette had a feeling she would have been friends with an amazing person had she known the redhead.

Jesse was calm, thinking over the way Emma had acted at the end of her life. Suddenly every little bizarre thing he had seen her do made absolute sense to him and at the same time no sense at all.

Brennan's mind was whirling with the info, not able to comprehend what Adam was saying. Emma was his friend -his **best **friend. Why wouldn't she tell him this? She told him about her crush on Shalimar, her fear that she would lose control and be kicked out of MX as soon as Adam found out about it. It just didn't make sense that she didn't trust him enough to share this burden with her. He suddenly had a glimpse of the emotional weight that would have had to have been on Emma's shoulders before she died and a shiver of self-disgust ran through him for not being able to help her.

All heads jerked up as the sound of squealing tires met their ears before Shalimar -first to realize what it was -took off towards the garage with the others following her. When they got there Jesse's car was gone, all that was left of it was black skid marks and a watermark from the exhaust. Dread weighed in Shalimar's mind as she ran to the med lab only to find it completely empty. Selene had run.


	22. Chapter 14

A/N: The end of the world is at hand!... Well thats not true -maybe. But anyway, the end of this is nearing. I'm thinking chapter 16 or so should wrap it up. Just thought I'd mention. Anyway, on with the fic!

--

When Selene had woken up, she was surprised to find herself alone. She knew that it was the med lab and not the most popular place in the world but she figured at least Jesse would be here working on something or Shalimar would be waiting for her to wake up. A frown graced her face before she sat up carefully and slid onto the bed.

She hadn't noticed it earlier but apparently she was barefoot and she shivered as her feet met the cold floor of the lab. Quick glances around made her notice her clothes in the corner and she padded over to them quickly - hospital wear was something that never sat right with her. After changing into her clothes -minus the shoes as she just didn't feel like getting them on -she set out to find where everyone had gone.

She didn't have to look far it turned out because she saw Adam standing before them all in what looked like a meeting. She started to back away, not wanting to interrupt, but stopped when she heard that other name -Emma. Curiosity got the better of her and she edged quietly forward.

"You two claim you saw Emma on that table for a time?" That was Adam talking and then there was a pause. Selene stuck her head forward a bit and saw them nodding. Distantly she noted Shalimar wasn't there before tuning back into the conversation. "Emma is Selene. She's alive."

Selene whipped back out of the doorway, not sure what she had heard. No -she was sure, she just didn't understand. She wasn't this 'Emma.' She was Selene.

She listened absently to Adam continue to explain, both about how he knew something was wrong with Emma to how they would argue about whether she was ok or not. She didn't really hear them. She stared straight ahead of herself but couldn't see anything except the vivid picture in her mind his words painted for her.

Her mind was working on overtime as the older man explained and she couldn't make heads or tails of what he said; all she understood from it was the fact that Emma was imploding on herself.

The building felt too small, too warm despite the fact that it was temperature controlled. Her breathing quickened and had she been thinking properly at the time, she might have discovered she was having a panic attack. All she knew at the time was she couldn't breathe and she had to get out. She quickly backed away from the room and went back to the lab to grab her shoes before running down to the garage. She felt mildly guilty for doing it but when she paused to think the room shrank and she was gasping for breath so she hopped into Jesse's car and grabbed the keys from the coin compartment. She stepped on the gas and gunned it from the garage and into the real world -the world that made sense to her.

* * *

"Why would she go?... Where would she go?" Jesse had asked it despite the fact that he knew everyone was already thinking it. Shalimar shrugged helplessly while Brennan paced, thinking as hard as he could on where he thought Emma might go. _'After all,'_ he reasoned, _'Selene is Emma apparently...'_

"If Selene is Emma why can't she remember? Why is Emma Selene but Selene isn't Emma?" Adam sat down and stretched his neck out before preparing to answer.

"Well, as you know, Emma was-"

"We know," Jesse cut him off.

"Right. Well, when you were all away I would find her as Selene more and more often. I never thought much of it, figuring she was just practicing. Then when the headaches got worse, I noticed she was Selene almost all the time you guys were out. Finally I confronted her about it -several times if memory serves me..." He frowned as he remembered his suspicions of her being able to wipe things from people's minds. "After about the fifth time she finally told me why -Emma might have been dying, but Selene wasn't. She would become Selene whenever she could because it made the pain fade away. Selene might just be an illusion -a very real illusion mind you -but Selene was also perfectly healthy. She never had so much as a cold as Selene and Emma needed that - needed a reprieve from the pain in her head. I assume -and this is only a guess on my part -but I assume that she was staying healthy because of how much Emma was grasping onto that notion. Emma forced Selene's health to be perfect and used it as an escape."

"So... Selene is a temporary fix for whatever was destroying Emma, but somehow it became permanent?" Lexa asked Adam, still trying to fully understand everything. The scientist nodded.

"Yes -but not on accident. You see, when you all saw Emma died, Selene was already partially triggered. Emma and I worked for a long time on fixing things for her, fixing things so she could be free from the pain and the danger being Emma meant. However, it came at a price -all of you. Emma had to give up Mutant X, her home, her friends, everything she was in order to become Selene. She didn't want to," he said softly to Shalimar as she started to cry again, "but she had to. She knew the only way that she could ever come back to you all was to get rid of you. It hurt you, but I'm sure it hurt her more."

It was silent in the room for a while. They all paid a moment of respect for Emma's sacrifice.

"I saw her die though... Didn't I?" Jesse murmured in the quiet.

"No. You saw Emma projecting a vision of herself dying, but she never died. The -for lack of a better word -program Emma and I had created was set to start after a very traumatic event. We had no idea how perfect that explosion was until the moment arrived. I faked her death along with mine and moved her comatose form to San Francisco where she would start her new life as Selene until I could help her."

"But wait..." Shalimar glanced confusedly at Adam. "How could she have just woken up and been Selene? I mean she had an entire lifetime of memories. There weren't any gaps from what I could see. She had details about things that are just too real -like describing how she had broken her arm when she was 11 after she fell out of a tree. It's just- it's hard to know they're all just lies..."

"There's an explanation for that too. You see when she woke up she was Selene but Selene had no idea what that meant -kind of like amnesia. Emma had foreseen this and knew it would pose a threat so we decided on another trigger. She would be sitting in there, lying on the bed and tell me eventually she didn't know who she was. I would leave the room and click a button that would activate a song to play over special speakers I had placed in her room. The song was the trigger and as she listened to it everything -every fake memory she created -would just fill itself in." He smiled wistfully. "She chose 'Reflection' by Christina Aguilera. I can remember laughing with her over how true that was." He saw everyone wasn't amused so he cleared his throat.

"Anyway, after she remembered I gave her her personal effects: Clothes, purse, money, and her com-ring on a necklace chain. When I gave it to her, she told me, 'This is the ring my dad gave me when I was 13. He said I shouldn't wear it and told me anyone else who wore it was my friend -someone I could trust.' I was baffled by that but had nodded and smiled nonetheless."

"So she was the extra signal I got when I contacted everyone?" Jesse asked, stunned.

"More than likely."

"Wait, why have I never seen it?" Shalimar demanded.

"She might have kept it hidden somewhere. I don't know otherwise. Somehow, I think she knew the danger it posed as well as how useful it could be. She must have seen your ring and just stuck with you." Adam shrugged.

Jesse was already out the door before Adam said 'you' having been struck by an epiphany.

_'The ring! Of course!'_

Lexa trailed after him and dragged Brennan with her after sharing a look with Shalimar. As soon as they had gone Adam moved toward the feral, attempting to pull her into a hug, only to be slapped across the face.

"How **dare** you keep this from me - us. We loved Emma and-... and you couldn't even tell us."

"I couldn't. She-"

"Don't you tell me forced you into not telling us- that she did or said something to threaten you because we both know its bullshit." She stepped away from him as she moved slowly toward the door. "I didn't listen when Emma told us you kept things from us -not completely anyway. Maybe she was right."

He took another step, this time careful to stay out of reach. "Shalimar, please listen-"

"For all I know you suggested becoming Selene to her so you could get her out of the way. As far as I know you might not have ever saved Emma -you would have let her be Selene until the day she died and none of us would have known." Her eyes flashed at him and he backed up a bit. "You better hope Selene -Emma... is ok when Jesse finds her." With that, the feral stormed from the room to find information from Jesse, leaving Adam in her wake.


	23. Chapter 15

Jesse's fingers pounded the keyboard relentlessly as he searched for Selene's - Emma's - com-ring signal. He had tried to find out what her pulse was -thereby locating her -but she didn't have it on so it didn't work. He tried zeroing in on it and it alone but that didn't work. Now he was restarting the program to turn on all their com-rings at once and just guess as to where she was and where she was going as soon as possible.

A quick glance to his left showed him the program he would use to locate her was ready and waiting on the next computer. Lexa and Brennan stood watching over his shoulder and he fought down the urge to ask them to back off a bit. It wouldn't matter anyways -they'd just come right back to that spot after a couple minutes after forgetting in their worry over Emma. Selene.

He shook his head to clear the little internal debate that he knew could start if he continued with that line of thinking.

"Lexa, get on that computer and be ready to hit 'go,' ok?" She nodded and sat on the chair with tense anticipation. Brennan was still leaning over him but not as close now because he was trying to see both screens at once and from the angle he was in he'd have missed the location completely.

"Ok get ready in three," Lexa focused on him and prepared to click the mouse. "Two." Brennan started to tap his fingers restlessly on his pants. "One." There was an almost simultaneous click as they hit their mouses and the program was off. They idly noticed their rings had again blinked at them. Jesse hoped she didn't try and disrupt the signal again.

Five red lights shone on the screen and the cursor turned to an hourglass as Lexa's program began to work. Moments later the signal still shined brightly on the screen and Jesse felt his shoulders relax minutely.

"Find her yet?" Shalimar's unexpected voice made Jesse jump.

"Uh, no. Not yet, but soo-"

"Got her," Lexa interrupted.

Jesse shrugged. "See? Soon."

"Just tell me where she is Jesse," Shalimar demanded lightly but firmly. He nodded and turned to Lexa who had a slightly anxious look on her face.

"So... where is she?"

* * *

_"Attention all passengers boarding American Airline flight 102 to San Fransisco, California are now boarding. First class is now boarding the plane."_

Selene was sitting in one of the benches in a state of agitation. Her mind was whirling around and around. She couldn't make heads or tails of anything.

_'Is that the only reason why Shalimar was with me?... because she thinks I'm her precious **Emma**?...'_

She stood up abruptly and went to the bathroom to freshen up quick - she suddenly felt sick. When she went in there someone had her face shoved in the mirror and was apparently attempting to pluck her eyebrows into some sort of arch. Selene took a sink towards the end of the line and turned the faucet on cold full blast.

She stared at herself in the mirror for a bit before sticking her hands in the water and scooping it up to splash it into her face. She didn't care that her mascara would run, she'd just re-apply it.

She scrubbed her face vigorously while ignoring the looks the plucker was giving her. She reached blindly for a paper towel to wipe her face with and when she did she patted her face dry.

She absently noted the other woman had left the room before she glanced back into the mirror only to bite back a scream. There, staring back at her, was a blue-eyed redhead Selene could only assume was Emma.

_"You can't escape me you know."_ Selene backed from the mirror with terror evident in her eyes. The woman in the mirror stepped with her. Selene twisted and shut herself in a stall.

"It was just your imagination, it was just your imagination..." She repeated that to herself for fully a minute before braving a glance outside the stall. Her own face met her and she almost cried with relief before she moved to leave the restroom.

She kept her head down as she walked out and mumbled an apology to the person she had walked into.

_"Sure, you can run, but you can't hide from me._" Selene let out a gasp and backed away from the taller woman. People looked at her funny as she nearly bolted from the bathroom entrance.

_"I'll always be here."_ Suddenly she was in front of Selene.

_"You can go to the ends of the earth -places where the word 'primitive' falls short of its description -and I'll still be there."_ It came from the right.

_"You on the other hand, were supposed to be a band aid."_ From the left.

She was everywhere! Selene roughly pushed past them and ran blindly through the airport whenever she was met by another Emma.

_"Temporary."_

_"A quick fix."_

_"You've existed for too long Selene."_

_"I want my life back."_ Selene backpedaled as Emma reappeared in front of her, this time by herself.

"Well you can't have it!" The other woman smiled sadly at her, almost pityingly.

_"Of course I can. May I remind you, you never existed in the first place. I did. I want to live again."_ Emma reached out for her and Selene screamed.

Her eyes snapped open with a gasp and Selene looked wildly around for the apparition that haunted her dreams. A glance at the clock slowed her frantic heartbeat down.

_'Just a few more minutes and this will all be over...'_ She leaned her head back with a sigh as she waited for the announcement that her plane would be taking off.

_'But what about Shalimar? Are you just going to leave her? Without even a good bye?'_

Selene shook the thought from her head almost violently. She couldn't think of Shal now. Now was the time to- to...

_'To what? Break her heart twice over now that she won't have you or her precious Emma? Face it Sel, this will crush her.'_

Selene stopped herself from thinking of it. If it was a clean break it shouldn't hurt her that much. She planned on getting her stuff from their apartment and getting the hell out of dodge as quickly as possible.

_'Like ripping off a band aid...'_ For some reason that thought irked her the most.

* * *

Papers flew into the air, people crashed to the ground, and others dove to it to avoid the blonde rocket-fueled tank heading for them. Shalimar had been in a frenzy ever since Jesse had told her that Selene had actually taken his car to an airport. An **airport**! She didn't know how much longer the flight would take but she knew in the back of her mind that she'd never have enough; which was why she was currently posing as a steam roller on an acid trip trying to get to the terminal all the while silently praying she wasn't too late. 

"Ma'am! Stop right there!" Shalimar ignored the overweight security guard and kept right on running. The cry of the guard let her know Brennan had probably shorted the walkie-talkie before he could report her in before he started keeping up with her again. Jesse and Lexa were going to the terminal the longer way around but Shalimar had opted for the quickest route, not wanting to risk both of her loves -in one body no less -leave her. Possibly forever.

"Right! Right!" Shalimar didn't even think, she just turned right at the next corner only to stop in her tracks. Brennan ran into her from behind and fell to the ground, panting heavily. He didn't ask her why she had stopped. The waiting area was empty. There was only a little Japanese woman waxing the floor nearby -and doing a very poor job if he did say so himself -and the overly cheery woman at the ticket counter. There was a quiet thud as Shalimar sank quickly to her knees. Her face was blank but he knew she must be hurting -you didn't have to be a telempath to see how she was on the verge of breaking.

Her shoulders started to shake violently and he gripped her harder as tears began to flow freely from her eyes.

"She's gone... She's gone!" Shalimar buried her face in Brennan's shoulder and pulled him to her so tightly she didn't hear the steps that approached.

"Hey, you. I'm supposed to give you this. Lady said give it to you. So here you are." The Japenese janitor shuffled back to her crappy floor waxer and Shalimar turned the package over in her hand. Something was wrapped up in a piece of notebook paper and the feral opened it carefully.

_Shalimar,_

_By the time you get this, I'll already be gone. I'm sorry this had to happen, I really am. There's just too much going on in my head right now. I need time to think this through. I mean, I'm not even me anymore. _

_I don't know how long we'll be apart. I know it won't be an hour, a day, or even a week. I might never sort through all of this... I expect it will take a while to figure out whoI really am. If you don't think I'll ever come back to you, I want you to move on. _

_That might sound callous, or heartless, but believe me when I say I'm having trouble even writing it but I have to. You need to be happy after all. If you can't be happy with me, I want you to be happy however you can._

_Despite what I've said in this letter I do love you Shalimar. I know you might hate me right now but I really do love you and I want you to know I'm sorry for this._

_Love Always, Selene._

Brennan helped the stunned feral to her feet and led her away with his arm protectively around her. Shalimar shook silently, all the while clutching the com-ring that had been wrapped in the paper tightly in her hand as if it were the last link to Emma and Selene.

As soon as they were out of sight the custodian shut off the floor waxer and slowly walked to the bathroom. Moments later a taller, redhaired, brown-eyed woman stepped out of it. Tears shone brightly in her eyes as she stared off where Shalimar and Brennan had left. Her heart was breaking but she knew in the long run it would be the best thing for both of them.

She could feel Emma reaching out to Shalimar, could feel Shalimar's anguish pressing at her from all sides - making it hard to breathe - and Selene silently vowed that she would return to Shalimar either as Emma or herself.

-

**A/N:** Ok the ending of this chapter is just crappy compared to what I originally wrote which I accidentally deleted during one of my many blonde moments. Sorry it sucks so badly but I promise - I'm pretty sure I'm going somewhere with all this. Not exactly positive but there just might be a plot in all of this hoopla at some point or other.

Also, sorry for the lateness. Would have put this up like yesterday or the day before but my internet connection has been on the fritz for a while now and I couldn't get the new chap up right away.


	24. Chapter 16

**A/N**: Ok for those who don't know, this is just temporarily on hold. I wanna finish this up and post the rest of it in one clean chunk (which is still coming -should only be like a week or two more at the most.) I apologize if you get impatient with me but I'm doing what I think is most appropriate, and I really hope ya'll don't lose interest which is why I posted this chap.

-

The ride home that night had been silent aside from the occasional sob from the feral sitting in the back seat. Brennan was driving the car with Lexa riding shotgun. As soon as Jesse had seen how upset Shalimar was he immediately crossed over to her and swept her into a tight hug, muttering apologies into her hair as he did so. He was still holding her when they arrived at the car. They all piled into the SUV he had brought and he made a mental note to arrange for a tow truck to pick up his car tomorrow and drop it off at his apartment.

Shalimar was led straight to her room again when they got back. Brennan recounted the entire story from their point of view, from plowing through the crowds to receiving the ring from the custodian. He felt exhausted by the end of telling it and made to go off to bed had Adam not requested their presence in the lab. They waited patiently while he typed some commands into the computer. Jesse had his arms around Lexa's waist snugly and they stood their silently, not wanting to talk about the recent events at all. Brennan stood looking sullenly down at the floor where Boris was wrapping his tail around his leg. He scooped the cat up and murmured a thanks to Jesse for picking him up when he and Shalimar had gone to get Selene from his apartment.

"Brennan?" They looked at the computer screen where there was a list of Japanese custodians in a row on the screen. "Which one was the janitor?" Brennan looked at the pictures hard, trying with all his might to find the one who had given them the package but to no avail.

"None..."

"Adam, what does that mean?" Jesse demanded quietly. Lexa placed her hand on his arm to calm him down some and he pulled her to him tighter.

"It means, that you were duped. I'm pretty sure that 'janitor' was Selene using Emma's powers." He ran a hand through his hair. "Which means she's long gone by now..." They were silent for a while.

Brennan shook his head slowly in self-disgust that he hadn't thought more about the crappy wax-job the woman was doing on the floor. Jesse and Lexa were thinking about what could have happened had they continued on the long way to the terminal and possibly surprised the illusionist in the act.

"Let's not tell Shalimar..." Jesse felt sick to say it but when Lexa nodded against him he knew he was in the right.

"We can't lie to her Jesse," Brennan said firmly as he scratched Boris behind his ear.

"If we tell her Selene was right in front of her -had actually spoken to her and everything... I mean we feel bad right now, right? Imagine how she'll feel. Betrayed, confused, self-hating." That last one he directed at Brennan especially. "It'll hurt less if she thinks Selene leaving was totally out of her power."

Brennan sighed and muttered a 'whatever...' before walking off to his room with Boris held securely in his arms. Adam nodded at Jesse, glad he didn't have to say it himself, before going off to his own room. Jesse and Lexa stayed in the lab a while longer enjoying the brief moment they had to themselves while it lasted.

"We should have kept going."

"But we didn't," Lexa added.

"We didn't... and now she's really gone." Lexa only nodded before leading him by the hand out of the lab.

* * *

_3 months later..._

A lone figure fell to the floor in the darkened corridor soundlessly. The figure was dressed all in black, and you would never have seen her if her eyes weren't casting a golden glow around the room. Once a sweep was finished the figure grabbed the pendant around their neck and whispered into it. "All clear."

Two more figures dropped behind her almost as soundlessly but at the same time had nowhere near the gracefulness and made two small plopping sounds as they hit the ground.

The woman with the glowing eyes helped them to their feet before leading them to a little alcove coming off the corridor and clasped her hands over their mouths to get them to stay quiet.

"Go down the hall and take a right. Its the one with the water bubbler fountain thing in it." They all cracked a smile as the man in the spoke before they pressed through the darkness towards the hallway. The next hallway was dark and one of the figures -the tallest -walked down it with a frown.

"I don't see any- ow-!" He found the bubbler with his hip and the first woman had to clap her hand over his mouth to keep him silent.

"Found it." They continued on, the tall man limping slightly as he did and thinking of complaints to make about it later when the feral pulled the others into another alcove. A walkie talkie crackled as a guard passed the door and they all remained perfectly still until he was gone.

The blonde -you could see her hair now in the light -took control of the situation and led the group to the doors the guard had passed. "Brennan?" The man nodded and approached the door with electricity flowing from his fingers. In seconds he had fried the alarm in the handle and they scurried through it to another alcove. Brennan was struck by how convenient it was that the building's designer had a total lack of imagination before refocusing on the task at hand.

They other two moved to leave the alcove but the blonde held them back.

"Shalimar?" She shushed them and pressed against the wall after grasping the brunette woman's hand tightly. Brennan grabbed her other hand and they were gone from sight. The guard who had passed them before now walked past with an annoyed look on his face as he wiped at the coffee stain on his once crisp white shirt. Shalimar grinned before tugging on the hand she held and leading them to follow the guard. At the end of the hallway he went right while the man who directed them told them, "Left."

Another dark hallway -though not as dark as the other one -was traveled down carefully and cautiously as possible. At the end of it was their destination: a records room. Brennan once again made to the door but not before someone passed the view window on the inside. The man on the inside was busily looking at papers and didn't hear a whispered, "Lexa!" before he turned his gaze out the window. He frowned a bit and they held their breath but let it out when he licked his hand and smoothed down the hair that stuck up from the cowlick on his head. Satisfied that it would stay down, he opened the door and walked back in the direction they had come from.

The feral caught the door with her foot quickly before it shut and they slid silently into the room. "Jesse, we're in the record room. Where is it?"

"There should be seven file cabinets along the right wall when you walk in. Its the top cabinet in the third from the door labeled, 'Assets.'" They quickly made their way to it and opened the drawer right up. "Check to make sure first."

"What are we looking for?" Brennan asked as Shalimar flipped through the folder.

"Uh, Lexa? You wanna help them?" The brunette moved from her place at the door and Shalimar handed her the file before taking the position at the door.

"This is it alright." Brennan nodded and opened his waterproof bag. Lexa slipped the folder in but another folder caught her eye as well. It was labeled 'Assets' as well and she decided to grab it too. They moved toward the door after closing the cabinet only to run into Shalimar.

"Make us invisible, now!" Lexa just grabbed them both and led them against the wall near the door as the saliva guy from earlier re-entered the room. He made straight for the back of the room -presumably to change his shirt which now was covered in coffee.

_'What is with these people and their coffee?'_ ran through all their minds. They shrugged it off as he disappeared into the closet in back. It only took them a second to get out of the room and begin moving back toward the entry point.

The mission had been a success. Jesse waited for them in the Helix II -just called the Helix for short -and took off when they got in.

* * *

They walked into the building casually. Shalimar stretched her hands over her head in a very cat-like way and Brennan watched with barely restrained interest. Jesse and Lexa headed straight for the labs to find Adam; Jesse's arm stole around Lexa and brought her in for a kiss as they walked. Shalimar noticed and walked into her room without a word. Brennan just sighed before heading off to play video games. 

Things had changed over the past few months. They were officially a team again. The Dominion was still around but the attack the formerly prisoned mutants had made on their HQ had severely damaged them. Every now and then they tried to capture more mutants but every time Mutant X was there to stop them as well as all the other people who sought to destroy the mutant and non-mutant world. Just like old times.

Well, almost like old times. Shalimar had sunk into a depression after Selene had left and was only recently coming out of it. Brennan felt mixed emotions during those months. The desire to finally get with Shalimar constantly battled his respect of both Emma and Shalimar. Shalimar had clearly chosen Emma over him and it would have been a cheap shot to try and sway her while she was so distraught, so he opted to just be her friend. For then at least. Granted, he knew he'd never be able to live up to Emma **or** Selene in the feral's heart, but he could at least pretend he did and try to make her at least less miserable. He shook the thoughts from his head as he sat down in front of the TV with the control paddle and sighed when Boris hopped up onto his lap.

* * *

Shalimar fell face up on her bed as she got to her room. Her room... It didn't feel right. Over the years she had gotten used to calling it 'our room.' Referring to it as just hers made her feel all the more alone. It was like advertising to the world, "This is Jesse and Lexa's room. They'll be married soon. And Brennan sleeps in the one at the end of the hall - his nights are usually spent with many slutty women he finds in clubs. This room belongs to Shalimar. Just Shalimar." She sighed as she looked around the room. 

Much of the things that had been in the apartment were here now or in storage in the basement levels. Selene hadn't taken much -in fact, Shalimar suspected she didn't take any of her things with her and Shal didn't have the heart to throw it out. It was the only way to be close to her now even if the pictures of them together and other little trinkets tore at her heart every time she saw them.

She reached blindly over her head to grab her pillow before slamming it over her face to fall asleep.

* * *

"So you were successful I gather?" Adam greeted with a cheery smile at the engaged couple. Lexa nodded and handed over the bag with the files in it. 

"There were two so I grabbed both." Adam's smile only suffered a fraction before it was going full force again.

"Excellent intuition Lexa." He turned from them and made to go back into his office/bedroom.

"Adam-." Adam stopped and turned to Lexa.

"What were those files for anyway? I mean, granted, I'm thankful for the easy job for a change, but why did we need them?" His smile twitched but didn't falter.

"The Dominion has many ways of getting back on its feet Lexa. If we take out some of their bigger money makers, they'll have a harder time of doing it. These assets," he waved the bag back and forth, "tell us of their biggest money making ventures that are out there. If we can stem or just stop that flow, they have less funding. If they have less funding,-"

"They just dry up and leave?" Lexa asked hopefully as she thought of her upcoming wedding. Adam's smile only got impossibly wider and he left the room humming some tune.

"Well he's certainly in a good mood," Jesse commented.

"I'll say... Now let's talk flower arrangements." Jesse groaned internally.

"Do we have to? I mean isn't Shalimar more equipped to help with this than I am?" he hastily added on as Lexa gave him a look that said, 'Don't you start.'

"Normally I would ask her to help me but you know how she gets whenever we start talking about the wedding. I'm even afraid to ask her to be my maid of honor because she might start crying or just get way to enthusiastic. Have you seen that episode of Buffy after Riley leaves her? Scary stuff."

Jesse laughed and shook his head. "You've been watching too much TV lately sweetie." He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"And you've been working too much dear." She pecked him on the cheek with a grin. "Besides. You're a part of this wedding too and you should be more involved."

"All right, I'll help you choose flowers ok?" He mentally made a note to kick himself later as she practically started to glow. She bustled out of the room and was back in almost an instant with a big book of flower arrangements. She flipped open to page one. He made another note to kick himself again.


	25. Chapter 17

**A/N**: Ok ok, not the end yet but I was running out of reasons to actually finish this up(I swear I've only got like 2-3 more chapters to write) so I figured maybe actually posting another chap would help me out.

-

Adam opened the file with grim determination written on his face. He had told the team another little white lie. The files were so they could stem the flow of money into the Dominion, but there were also groups he knew about that were of particular use to him and the team. For instance, there was a group of hit men they hired every now and then that they could interfere with, and there was a lawyer firm they used whenever they overstepped their boundaries that they could incriminate. Not that they'd do anything illegal to fix these problems. The law firm was as crooked as they come and the hit men were- well, hit men.

However, there was another motive behind Adam's request. The Dominion was in the business of studying mutants these days, the cells at their former HQ proved that. But that wasn't the only way. They also sought to influence developing mutants into controlling their gifts, thereby gaining their trust and allowing them the chance to ask the mutants for help on certain things. Anything ranging from asking a feral to break into a compound to steal or sabotage something to asking a psionic to act as a lie detector during an interrogation.

The thing he was most worried about, though, was their interest in Emma. He had known that Emma was becoming the subject of a few discussions between the Dominion officials. When Emma began evolving it was clear to him he wasn't the only one in danger of being killed or captured.

Somehow, he had the feeling something wasn't right with the fact that the Dominion had calmed down over the months -and that they didn't know where the psionic was to make sure she was ok only added to his tension.

He spread the contents of the folders in front of him and sighed. He'd have to do a lot of reading tonight. He only hoped he wouldn't find what he thought he might.

* * *

Shalimar was woken hours later by her door opening and closing quickly. The pillow was still on her face so she couldn't tell who had entered her room until they either spoke or she threw the pillow at them. 

"Shal! Hide me!" It was Jesse. She took the pillow off her face and fixed him with a slightly amused look at his panicked expression.

"Why-"

"Shhhh! Just please." He gave her a puppy dog look and she sighed before pointing to her closet. He muttered thanks to her before ducking into the cramped closet.

She replaced the pillow on her face and sighed in annoyance when footsteps down the hall made their way towards her room. Moments later Lexa poked her head in the room.

"Is Jesse in here? I need his opinion on what type of cake we should have." A suppressed groan came from the closet but Shal guessed only she could pick it up with her hearing.

"Sorry, haven't seen him." She pointed to the pillow on her face.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you. If you see him, tell him I need to talk to him." Shalimar gave her a thumbs up and Lexa leaved the room to go check in the game room with Brennan.

Jesse came out of the closet moments later with a relieved expression on his face but it fell once Shalimar's annoyed gaze met his.

"If you don't want to help, just tell her. I'm sure Brennan or I could help her out." Jesse laughed.

"Brennan? Come on, Shal. He's a guy; he probably hates this stuff as much as I do. And you... well you get moody every time me and her so much as hold hands," he finished guiltily. Shalimar shrugged.

"Doesn't mean I can't pick out one dress over another. Really, all you have to do is nod and smile with what they like and agree with what they hate. Knowing how strong-willed Lexa is she might not consider your opinion for long anyway if you were to give it." She stretched out on the bed a bit before standing and shoving him out the door.

She had barely shut it before she heard him scramble away as Lexa walked out of the game room after talking to Brennan. She smiled as she thought about how those two would work out despite their fights and everything. Not for the first time she wished she still had that. Her smile faded and she went to grab something to eat from the kitchen even though she wasn't really hungry. She just needed some time out of the room.

* * *

Brennan stared stupidly at the catalogue of wedding dresses in front of him. He still wasn't sure how the hell he had gotten here. All he knew was the bridesmaid dress Lexa had picked out -while a design that would maximize the amount of cleavage, which he was thankful for -was a hideous color. 

"Lexa... are you going to make curtains from that?" Lexa blinked at him before frowning.

"What do you mean?"

"They're disgusting. Honestly, what made you think they were all right?"

"Well, Jesse agreed with me earlier...," she said in reference to when she had cornered Jesse and he had nodded to what she said.

"Then he's colorblind. Why bright green with pink trim?"

"I was going to dye the pink ok?" she said defensively. He shook his head before turning to another page.

"This one." He left it at that and exited the room before they could get into a debate.

"'This one.'" She muttered under her breath before realizing that he was indeed right. The dusty-rose colored dress - although having a plunging neckline - was perfect. It looked old but form fitting and came with elbow length gloves she found she absolutely adored.

She tore the page out of the book and - after only a second of hesitation - tore after Brennan to get his opinion about the flower arrangements.

* * *

Shalimar was half-heartedly eating some cookies when a slightly pale scientist walked in. 

"Adam? What's the matter?" She hopped off the countertop as he looked up at her startled. He quickly adopted a smile but no color returned to his face making him look slightly terrified of pissing her off or something.

"Nothing's the matter Shalimar. Just... saw something scary." He mentally groaned.

"Scary?" Her brow furrowed. "Do you need some help with somethi-"

"NO!" The yell even startled him and he smiled apologetically. "No, just an unexpected ending to an E-mail. One of those ones where the picture is cute then turns horrifying." She smiled crookedly and patted him on the shoulder.

"There there Adam, the big bad internet won't hurt you." She left the room to wander around the Sanctuary, not noticing how agitated Adam had been the entire time.


	26. Chapter 18

_Thunder crashed overhead and lighting bathed the expanse in instantaneous clarity before fading away to blackness once again. The woman ran, danger dogging her every step. She didn't know what the threat was or why she was running at breakneck speed. All she knew was it was a danger she couldn't face. Couldn't fight - well, fight and win anyway. So she kept running._

_The wind whipped her long blood-red hair around her face and she struggled to see in the night. Lightning illuminated the field again and the desperate woman could see the tree line in front of her. She suddenly tripped on the gravel that somehow got under her but pushed herself up and running again. A smile briefly crossed her face and she moved faster toward it only to see several pairs of gleaming eyes appear and disappear in the brush. She stopped dead in her tracks and backed up only to feel the other danger begin to close in on her. _

_She had no time for this. Her mind began to tingle and she closed her eyes. She concentrated on light - light was the one thing this enemy feared. The only thing really. It thrived in the dark but was sent scattering like a cockroach in the light._

_She had to make it to daylight. She focused all her energy and when she heard the loud clatter of the enemy on the stones behind her, she released a flare of white light. It yelped in sudden pain, terror, and surprise and the woman started going to the left. The eyes trailed her easily in the brush, only staying away because of the thing pursuing her._

_Her breath came in short rasps as she ran and though her legs complained about the exertion, she kept pushing herself on with the fear as her energy._

_Lightning flashed overhead followed by the low rumble of thunder and there was a boulder in front of her. At one point in time, there had been a rockslide in this place next to a high cliff but the woman didn't stop to care about that. She paused just outside the apparent landscape of rocks before her and only hesitated a second more before plunging herself into it. Pebbles made her slip and fall but she got up again despite the stinging in her palms. Tears sprang into her eyes as she remembered how close the evil had gotten._

_Lightning flashed and she was covered in shadow. Terror gripped her as she realized that in this place - despite the difficulty she would have in crossing it - would provide shelter for the pursuer. She pressed on._

_There was a loud crash and an angry roar behind her. She didn't turn around but bolted unthinkingly across the unsteady rocks. Some of them shifted as she charged through, and more often than not, she - and the one behind her - fell to the ground harshly. She tripped once more and braced herself for more sharp stones digging into her already bloody palms only to find her hands met with grass._

_She'd made it! A smile of relief crossed her face before she remembered why she was here and bolted once again. Her muscles strained and protested but didn't dare stop despite how they were locking up from the constant falling. She would have bruises tomorrow for sure._

_There was a small light ahead - about a hundred yards. She couldn't clearly see in the dark but she could just make out the silhouette of a small house. A house meant people, and people meant the evil would back off at least for one night. She wiped her hands on her pants and sprinted towards the house. _

_As she got closer, her pace slowed. Something wasn't right here. She crept forward slowly and placed her throbbing hands on the windowsill. The people inside were dead. She backed from the window with her shoulders slumped in defeat. This was it. She was done for now. _

_The evil behind her was closing in quickly. She could hear it slow down, as she didn't move. It took slow, confident steps towards her and grabbed her shoulders roughly. The woman felt tears course down her cheeks as she awaited the inevitable- _

"Emma." Blue eyes blinked open in confusion and stared at the dark haired man above her. "You can't just give up like that." She sighed in exasperation.

"I know..." He decided to take pity on her and helped her to her feet. The rest of the room came into Emma's sight and she blushed to find all her 'peers' thinking something along the lines of 'They are just so cute together.' That was so far from the truth it was comical but she did not feel the need to correct them.

Her balance faltered for a second as a headache came on. Brian led her over to her seat on the bench by the window.

"Rest here for now." She nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. "Ok, who's next?" A dozen hands went up - most of the girls -and Emma smirked at the eagerness they always showed him. He was around six feet tall with curly black hair, eyes just as dark, and a slight Israeli accent that drove the girls wild with lust. When he smiled, he showed off two even rows of pearly white teeth and the girls swooned. Well, all except Emma of course.

He brought one eager woman to the front of the classroom and laid her down on the bed. He moved to her head and whispered words of comfort to her before moving his hands to either side of her face. Her eyes closed almost instantly as his hands grew bright white and she was sent into her subconscious.

Emma had found these people about a week after Selene had left Shalimar. Though she had hated Selene for it then, with the progress she had made Emma could hardly blame her anymore. She sure as hell needed it. Besides, it made it possible for Emma to take over for good again.

She smiled slightly as she remembered being in her own body again, how Selene had just readily given it up. It had surprised her at first, but somehow she knew Selene always knew when to do the right thing.

The years she had spent as Selene had strengthened her mind in ways not even her or Adam could have predicted. They thought it would only put a damper on Emma's powers and then she could return to herself once she got a cure. She was sure wrong on that.

Now she could stay as herself as long as she wanted; the headaches only came after these mental exercises but she didn't mind. The exercises further stretched her mind's limits and she knew she was gaining more and more control over herself than ever before.

The only thing she didn't like was the nightmares. Every night for a month or so, she'd been getting nightmares -much like her last exercise. She'd be running from something and then just when she thought she was safe -BAM! She'd get captured. What happened after that she didn't know, and that was why she participated in the sessions -to find out what happens after. But she could never continue that long to find out. So she had to keep starting over. It was a pain in the ass but she didn't mind. It gave her more time to just... be. She spent most of her time studying people she met.

Like Tal for instance. He was the powerful illusionist in the front of the room with the volunteer. He was well built and though he could just get by in life on his looks alone, he was a gifted mentor to the younger members of the group and always went out of his way to help struggling mutants if it was in his power. She trusted him deeply because of what he'd been doing to help her and they developed a close friendship -though not all that close.

She never told him about Mutant X, Genomex, the Dominion -any of it. Tal was carefree and knowledge of any of those groups would only create havoc in his life. He'd also never trust her again.

When they met, she was crying in the empty waiting area outside her missed flight. He had sat down, offered her some help and a place to stay for the night. He had assumed she was sad about her flight. She had shrugged him off and told him she didn't need his help but he was standing in a circle around her suddenly and she couldn't move. She was stunned and when he gave her his sales pitch, ("Come with me -the Titans Among Mortals can help you develop your powers like you've never guessed.") she had readily accepted.

Titans Among Mortals -TAM- was just as it sounded. The only people in it were mutants, and the main thing taught there was mutants were better than humans. That mutants were titans among the mere mortals that the humans were.

Emma didn't really agree with that logic, but then again she had nowhere else to turn. If she hadn't gone with them she had no idea what she might have done -broken down and returned to Shalimar and Adam for her 'cure,' or just left and never returned.

After a few months here, she realized she didn't actually need the cure anymore. Tal had explained what non-mutants think a cure for mutation is -a dampener of powers. All they wanted to do was stop the evolution inside a mutant even if it meant retarding their growth so much that the powers they already had would become flawed.

Despite him not knowing Adam at all she knew he had a point. The emotions in his voice didn't hurt either. He was deeply against 'cures' that weren't natural, and Emma assumed he must have had some experience with them to speak with such vehemence.

The girl at the front of the room began to shake and sweat; every now and then she would utter a moan. She'd leave the trance soon and then it was someone else's turn. Tal would keep doing this because he felt it was right. He didn't care that it sapped his energy greatly, he strongly felt that internal peace and calm was one of the main components to living with total control over ones powers. Emma sort of believed that herself -she spent at least an hour meditating every day -but she also knew that Tal had no idea what she could do. Her powers were far beyond his comprehension and despite this, she needed him. He had control and she needed to gain it herself -only then could she truly be ready to return to Shalimar.

Shalimar... The name still brought a goofy grin to her face. Shalimar was her entire motivation for being here. She could have returned to Mutant X months ago -incomplete, confused -but her love for Shalimar overruled that. She couldn't allow herself to be a constant burden to the feral and the rest of the team. It just wasn't in her.

A scream ripped through her thoughts and Tal quickly brought the girl from her trance. Emma sighed and left the room silently in favor of her bedroom.

A/N: About the accent thing,I'm obsessed with Ziva from NCIS-that accent is hot! Never heard it from a guy but I just love it all the same.


	27. Chapter 19

Adam slowly sipped the steaming cup of black coffee he held tightly in his hands as he contemplated what he could do. He could tell them, just tell them outright. Or he could try to soften the blow by waiting and thinking of a more delicate way of telling them.

"Hey Adam, why the long face?" Brennan asked as he walked into the room. His hair was sticking up on all ends and Adam smiled inside at the sight of the elemental fresh from another bout with Jesse's video games. He seemed so untroubled these days and with a sigh, Adam knew what he had to do.

"Nothing's wrong Brennan. My mind was just wandering." Brennan nodded and rummaged around the cupboards for a glass.

"Well its wandering into a pretty bad place with how you were nearly scowling at your coffee." Brennan smiled amiably at the scientist and Adam returned it with a warm smile of his own.

"I was just thinking of the Dominion again..." Brennan set a glass on the table with a sigh and turned to Adam.

"Look, you don't have to worry about them every second of the day Adam. Have some fun occasionally. You know," Brennan turned to the fridge and began to search for the orange juice. "Jesse's Playstation has another control paddle," he continued once he pulled his head from the fridge. "You and I could play Need for Speed or something." He poured out the orange juice and shoved the bottle back in the fridge. Brennan sipped the juice with a happy expression on his face.

Adam knew again that he couldn't do it - couldn't break whatever spell had befallen the team to allow them to find pleasure in something as simple as fresh orange juice in the morning. "Maybe I'll take you up on that offer sometime, Bren." Brennan smiled widely at him before leaving the room.

Adam silently berated him self for what he was sure to come but put it aside. He made his bed, now he'd have to lay in it.

* * *

Emma woke up late the next day and stretched out lazily. She turned her gaze to the left and saw her roommate had already gone to train or something. Emma yawned and lay in bed for a few more moments before finally getting out of bed. She stumbled sleepily into the bathroom and sighed when she saw her bed hair. 

The redhead crossed over to the bathtub and got the water started before going to brush her teeth at the sink. As she brushed, she glanced idly at the tub and nearly jumped a foot when the water ran red. She blinked a few times and the image cleared.

Shakily, she set the toothbrush down and shut the water off before sliding down the wall next to it. This had happened before, though not as vivid. This time she swore it was actually blood, that it was staining the white porcelain of the bathtub. But it wasn't. It was just... _'A vision? But why?'_ She shook her head to clear the image of blood raining from the faucet before stripping down and getting in the tub.

* * *

A while later found Emma wandering around the building. It was big - not huge, but then again it could house the 80 or so people that stayed there and dozen or more that just dropped in for classes. It was a renovated runaway house that TAM had purchased. There were before and after photos on the website that boasted how they turned the cockroach infested dump (that smelled oddly of urine and cinnamon) into a clean, friendly facility that smelled like "progress." Their words, not Emma's. 

"Emma!" The redhead turned with a smile at the voice to see her friend Roxie running up to her. "Hey," she said with a pant. Her face was flushed red and her brown hair fell into her eyes in wisps. Roxie had been here almost a year more than Emma. When Emma arrived Roxie volunteered to be her roommate right away and they'd been friends ever since.

"Hey Rox, where's the fire?" The feral glared at Emma playfully.

"I'll have you know that I don't always run just because there's a fire. Sometimes there's a sale at Hot Topic. Like today." Emma smiled and tried to back from Roxie a bit but the feral was persistent. "Come on, you promised. You said, and I quote, 'If you win this bet I'll let you pick out my clothes next time we go shopping.' And you lost. Miserably."

"How was I supposed to know you could eat that many eggs in one sitting? Even Cool-Hand Luke couldn't." The feral grinned wildly.

"But I did. So let's go." She grabbed Emma by the wrist and tugged her from the building.

* * *

Brennan wandered into the workout room Jesse had built and stood transfixed as he watched Shalimar let loose on a punching bag. Her moves were so fluid and graceful she could make a ballerina look like a bear in a tutu. He smiled and the gears in his head began to turn. 

_'Three months is long enough of a wait. She's not vulnerable anymore... no harm in asking her anyway...'_ He walked up behind her and cleared his throat after a few moments.

She turned around with a slightly flushed face and smiled at him amiably. "Hey Bren."

"Hey Shal..." He paused to collect himself. "I was -you see I was wondering if you and I could maybe go out sometime. On a date," he added to clear up any confusion she might have had. Her mouth formed a perfect 'O' anyway and he could see her looking for a way out of answering. "Look, it's not like we have to go steady, or have a one -nighter or anything. Just... a date." She still looked apprehensive. "If it doesn't work out we can go right back to being friends, ok?" Finally, she began to cave.

"All right..." He nearly grabbed her up and kissed her but decided that would have to wait until he swept her off her feet during the date. "So when?"

He hadn't thought of that. "Uh... tonight. Around 6?" She nodded and grabbed a water bottle from a table nearby.

"Right. 6. Well... I should grab a shower then." She left the room before he could respond, not that he would have. He had plans to make.

* * *

"Jesse!" Shalimar burst into Lexa and Jesse's room to find him changing his shirt. It didn't faze her for a second and she shut the door behind her. 

"What is it Shal?" He hadn't seen her so nervous in months and it worried him -but any sign that she cared about something was a definite improvement.

"Brennan asked me out. On a date." He stared at her.

"So?" Internally he was cursing Brennan. To Jesse, Shalimar was still hurting over Emma/Selene and it was just trickery to go for her now.

"So? So what am I going to do?" She flopped down onto his bed with a dramatic sigh.

"Uh... get ready?" She glared at him and sat up.

"How am I going to do this Jesse? I don't think I'll be able to be with him and not compare him to -Them." Shalimar had stopped using Emma and Selene's names all together. She seemed to think that if she separated herself from them completely she'd get over them, but Jesse worried that she was just repressing her emotions. Someday she might do something drastic because of it, but thankfully, that would be far off from right now.

He sat down on the bed and put his arm around her. "Look Shalimar... I know how much They mean to you, but everybody needs someone. You've been lonely as hell these past few months and I know aside from his floozies all he has is Boris. Maybe if you open up to him, maybe even come to love him in some way, you'll at the very least be content in life." She nodded sullenly and he stood up, dragging her with him. "The first thing you do for the date is.. take a shower." With that, he shoved her from the room and she smiled as she walked back to her own room.

* * *

"So, what do you think? Hot right?" Emma nodded absently as Roxie turned. The feral was dressed in a tight leather miniskirt with fishnet stockings and a baby style t-shirt with the Playboy bunny symbol on it. "You look killer girl!" Roxie nodded in approval of the outfit she had put together for Emma - an off the shoulder black top with a cartoon devil on it with black Doc Martins and a pair of perfectly faded denim jeans. "I'll do your make up and tonight-," she paused for dramatic effect. "We party!" Emma had to laugh at her antics. 

"I can't, remember? I promised Tal I'd supervise his sessions again." Roxie sighed in annoyance.

"Work work work. That's all you two do. Why can't you have some **fun**? Get out sometime, meet new people." Emma shook her head and went back to the dressing room to change into her other outfit. There was a momentary lapse of silence before she heard Roxie ask, "So can I use your shirt tonight?"


	28. Chapter 20

Brennan smiled contently as he checked himself out in his mirror. His hair had gotten longer in the past few months and currently he slicked it back in a way that made him look sophisticated instead of like a Fonzie wannabe. His shirt was a black silk number with darker black patterns on it and the leather pants he wore fit him wonderfully without restricting motion.

He was slapping on some cologne when Jesse entered his room silently. He turned to look at the molecular through his mirror and smiled at him cheerfully. "Hey Jess, what's up?" Jesse didn't return his smile.

"I heard you're going out with Shalimar tonight." Brennan nodded and suddenly could feel a strange tenseness in the air. Jesse stepped closer to him. "If you break her heart...," Jesse started, "I'll break your face. Got it?" Brennan laughed at him but when Jesse didn't join in he finally turned to him.

"You wouldn't do that to me Jess. We're buds!"

"But Shalimar is like my sister. It's only customary for me to warn you I'll bust your face before the date rather than surprise you after you break her heart." Brennan sighed. He hadn't really had a girl bring him home before so he hadn't known about that particular rite of passage.

"All right. If I break her heart, you'll break my face." Jesse was motionless for a moment before a small smile flitted across his face.

"Good. Your hair is falling." He left the room as Brennan whirled to see a lock of hair had fallen in his face. He gave a frustrated sigh before searching for his hair gel.

* * *

"Shalimar, you look fine. Really."

"I'm not sure... I want tonight to be -nice. If I wear the wrong shoes or - **something**, the whole evening will be ruined." Lexa just raised an eyebrow. "Don't you give me that look. Just-"

"Why don't you just relax? It's just Brennan. We've known him for years Shalimar, there's no need to be nervous." Shalimar sighed in defeat before sitting heavily on her bed.

"I know, I know... Still, I want to have fun tonight. I mean, you guys have been telling me to get out there, try to forget about... Them... and I don't want to be scared off from that just because of one night." Lexa was silent for a while before her shoulders slumped forward at Shalimar's logic. The brunette moved to the closet and looking for something Shalimar would want to wear.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to come out tonight Em? I promise fun," Roxie asked as she applied her dark red lipstick. Emma smiled but shook her head. Roxie sighed, pressed her lips together, and then smirked at Emma. "Suit yourself. Don't wait up..." Roxie grabbed her sparkly handbag and left the room.

Emma glanced at the clock next to her bed. Eight p.m. Tal's class would be starting soon. The psionic made her way out of her room to the kitchen. Several other people were rummaging around there looking for something to eat -either for class or going out Emma didn't know or care much.

A couple people greeted her with a 'Hey,' others nodded and still others ignored her in favor of digging through the cupboards for Doritos or fruit-roll ups. She went straight to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water and the bowl of grapes before sitting at the island in the middle of the room.

A blonde girl and her boyfriend sat opposite her. The boy stared at the bowl for a second before it started to float slowly over to his side of the table. Emma pretended not to notice and pulled back on it a little -that was another thing she was developing. The telekinesis had started slowly at first and, since it didn't put too much pressure on her mind, she enjoyed using it to do little things around the facility. Like fighting over the bowl of grapes.

The boy frowned in confusion as the bowl simply stopped in midair -Emma had gained control of the telekinesis much quicker than he had because she had already developed control of her first gift. Because the telekinesis was his first gift, he was still struggling with it -especially since he only used it to impress his elemental girlfriend.

He smoothed out his brow and told the girl that he meant to keep it there but Emma could feel him pulling on it with all his might. Suddenly she let go and the bowl flew right into his chest. The girlfriend covered her mouth to suppress her giggles and the boy blushed shyly as he realized what had happened. A grape flew at Emma and hit her on the forehead causing all three of them to laugh more. A loud buzzer spoiled the moment and they all got up to go to Tal's class.

"So how'd you do that?" the guy's girlfriend asked Emma quietly.

"Just did." Emma shrugged and floated the bowl to herself before leaving the room.

* * *

Shalimar had no idea what to think about. The date was going. Where? She had no idea. It started off with dinner at a classy restaurant about half an hour away from Sanctuary. The place was dark, candles, violins, the whole spiel. They mostly sat in silence -comfortable for Brennan, boring for Shalimar. He tried several times to engage her in conversation but all they really discussed were missions and the like which of course led her to think about Them.

Movies were a bust. Despite the fact that they both enjoyed much of the same ones, the point in discussing movies was to argue with someone about them. If you both liked them then what's to discuss?

And now they were back in the car. Brennan was driving them somewhere and Shalimar just looked blankly out the window.

"Where are we going?" He smiled like he had some big secret and she found herself instantly annoyed before berating herself -now was the time to cut him some slack, not mentally attack him for every little thing he did that annoyed her.

"You'll see." Shalimar just turned to look out the window again.

Minutes later the feral could feel the bass of a club's sound system getting closer and she cringed. Dinner was survivable but this? No way.

"Brennan, if we're going to a club drop me off here and I'll get a cab." He looked over at her confused.

"What? Why?"

"I have a migraine ok? The dark in the restaurant with the candles really bugged me." He sighed and pulled over. They sat in silence.

"So I guess this is it, huh?" She nodded sadly.

"Yeah. It is." He nodded and grabbed his cell phone from the dashboard. "Here, call Jesse and ask him to pick you up. I'm going to the club." His voice was emotionless and Shal winced. She knew she had hurt him but she really did have a headache and it really was bugging the hell out of her.

She dialed and Jesse told her he'd pick her up from the club soon. After she told Brennan they were once again on their way to the club down the block.

* * *

The music pumped just beyond Derek -the club's bouncer - and every time the door opened, the sound was enough to blast you back a few feet. A bored feral that sat on the curb could tell you that much if she wasn't preoccupied trying to decide whether or not to apologize then continue with this 'date.'

"Outta my way, losers!" Shalimar turned with an eyebrow raised as a brunette in devil t-shirt and a leather miniskirt walked right up to the bouncer. She shot the man a coy glance and the formerly stone-faced bouncer pushed open the doors with a smile of his own. People grumbled at the unfairness of it until the bouncer threatened not to let anyone in for the rest of the night simply because he could. Shalimar smirked before a car horn nearly sent her a foot in the air. Jesse had arrived.

* * *

Brennan sat at the bar nursing a beer sulkily. He didn't know where he went wrong. Sure, they had been quiet at the restaurant, but he thought she was having fun. Apparently, he had been wrong.

"Rough night?" He turned to see a beautiful brunette woman sit next to him and he smirked.

"You could say that..." He took a swig of his beer. "So, are you a little devil?" Her brow furrowed momentarily before he gestured at her shirt.

"Oh!" She leaned forward until her mouth was near his ear and her breath sent shivers through him. "You bet I am... but I can be an angel if you want..." She bit him on the neck and he smiled widely. Maybe tonight wouldn't suck so much after all.


	29. Chapter 21

It was early in the morning when the elemental wandered in and Adam was waiting for him by the entrance with a stern look on his face.

"Where have you been Brennan?"

The dark haired man drew himself up like an indignant teenager. "Out."

"Out where?"

"Just... Out. Ok? Out." He pushed past the scientist and rushed to his room. After he ducked inside and let out a relieved breath that Adam hadn't found him, he turned around.

"Uh... Hey Jess." Jesse was glaring at Brennan with the same stern look Adam had had.

"Brennan."

"So uh... what you doin here?" Jesse's reply came in the form of a lightning fast punch running into Brennan's face.

"Thats for hurting Shalimar." He picked the other man up by his shirt front and knocked him down again with speed Brennan hadn't been expecting. Again. "And that's for being stupid. Do you realize what you've done? Not only did you blow the date, but you went to the club anyway. Didn't even take her home." He helped the taller man up and shoved a tissue to his bleeding nose. "I assume you went and hooked up with someone right after that right?"

"Ith not li' tha'-"

"It **is** like that. Exactly like that. Brennan man," Jesse ran a hand through his hair, "how could you be so stupid? I mean come on. The girl's already hurting and then you do something like this?"

"I'm sorr,' ogay? I'm sorr.'" Jesse was having a hard time not laughing at how funny Brennan sounded right that moment. "I sclewed up an' I'm sorr...'" Jesse sighed before walking into the bathroom. He came back moments later with a wet cloth and placed it over the eye that was rapidly changing colors on Brennan's face.

"Look man, I'm sorry I had to hit you, but I promised. You agreed." He leaned closer to inspect the nose. "I don't think its broke so you'll be fine. See you tomorrow." The door shut behind the cheery molecular.

"'Thee you tomorro...' jerk..." After Brennan got the bleeding to stop he hopped right into bed and fell asleep almost instantly from exhaustion.

* * *

When Shalimar woke up the next day she noticed something peculiar in the air -a new scent. The scent wasn't all unpleasant, there was something underlying the sex and sweat of it, something... sweet. She wandered all over the Sanctuary looking for it before she found herself in front of Brennan's room. She didn't even hesitate before barging in.

The smell wasn't Brennan's, that much she knew. The only way she could think of him having it on him in the first place was the sex tinged with the scent but that didn't bother her. She was far too intrigued in the other smell -the completely familiar yet slightly different smell.

Brennan was in the shower and she could hear him humming to himself and started tearing through his room looking for where the smell was coming from. It didn't take her long to find his silk shirt from last night lying on his floor next to the computer chair. That was where the scent was from.

The shower shut off in the bathroom and Shalimar could hear Brennan getting ready to get out. She dropped the shirt and quickly exited the room before he caught her.

* * *

_As she got closer, her pace slowed. Something wasn't right here. She crept forward slowly and placed her throbbing hands on the windowsill. The people inside were dead. She backed from the window with her shoulders slumped in defeat. This was it. She was done for now. _

_The evil behind her was closing in quickly. She could hear it slow down, as she didn't move. It took slow, confident steps towards her and grabbed her shoulders roughly. The woman felt tears course down her cheeks as she awaited the inevitable. _

_She felt herself turned around and slammed against the cabin wall harshly. Her legs hung limply above the ground and her pursuer's eyes gleamed menacingly in the dark._

_"Don't be afraid, little one. Let me help you..." Her ears perked up at that. She knew that voice, knew it and now knew to fear it. The enemy trailed its fingers up her throat and she turned her head away from them. The fingers traced over her lips, around her nose, smoothed over her forehead and jaw line before moving back to her throat. Lightning flashed and she moved her gaze down to find herself staring into a pair of familiar eyes before the attacker jerked its hand roughly and she slumped to the ground, dead. _

Emma sat up quickly, panting in terror.

_'What __**was**__ that? __**Who**__ was that?'_ The dream faded slightly from her minds eye but she knew it would haunt her for weeks. She needed to speak to Tal.

She quickly got out of the bed and got dressed before quietly leaving the room -and her roommate -behind. The redhead found Tal easy enough. Every morning he was outside on the patio doing Tai Chi and practicing to ignore the admiring stares of the other women who lived there.

"Tal!" He nearly fell over he was so startled but he recovered quickly.

"What is it Emma?" He placed his hands on her shoulders once she reached him and she told him all about the dream while he rubbed her back soothingly. "Shhhh... Sh... its over now, ok? It was just a dream..."

"But I **knew** the voice, I knew it! Which means that... someone I know will betray me..." She looked up at him desperately. "Oh Tal -I -" She started crying again. He was surprised at the amount of emotion she was showing but soon concluded that she was still reeling from the dream she'd had.

"Its ok Emma... Trust me. Why don't you go inside and once I gather my things we'll go for a walk, ok?" She nodded and wiped her eyes before going inside.

As soon as she was through the door Tal plucked a cell phone from his pocket and punched the first speed dial. "She's starting to suspect, awaiting instructions." The clipped tone of his voice left no room for questions and he was readily answered.

"Start bringing her around to the idea, tell her... tell her that you need her help to stop some group thats hunting down mutants. We'll give you the address of the place via a text message in half an hour. Do not give away your position yet Agent. If you compromise this mission, you know what will happen."

"Yes sir. I understand." He hung up the phone and stared where Emma had gone with grim determination. "Boy, do I understand..." He picked up his duffle bag and entered the doors after her.


	30. Chapter 22

"Are you alone?" The voice was distorted beyond recognition but Adam didn't mind. His contact put himself through many safety precautions for good cause. It was tedious work going through all these procedures but the other man was always dead-on accurate with his information.

"Yes."

"Good. Open the envelope my operative gave you last night."

Adam picked up the manila envelope that had been given him last night while he was at a coffee place. The operative had dropped it into Adam's lap as the scientist sipped his coffee while nonchalantly stuffing it into his coat pocket. Now he held it in his hand and was again surprised by the lightweight of it. He had expected more but anything from the contact would be 100 per cent true and Adam knew it. He ripped it open carefully and pages slid out.

He flipped through pages of observations and the like before his gaze came across a picture of a dark haired man smiling charmingly at a young blonde woman. Attached to the picture was a mug shot.

"The man in the first photo is Tal Gregorovich. Not much is known about him at this time but your hunch is correct -he is on the take. And dangerous. He can project illusions and has some amazing control."

"What does he do there?"

"He trains the younger ones to control their powers, tells them lies about 'cures' that go bad. He brainwashes them and then turns them out to the Dominion. He's been doing this for years, Adam. You have to be careful of him. If your friend is with him she may already be too far gone to recover."

"You don't know her. She wouldn't turn on us." There was a sigh on the other end. The contact knew how stubborn Adam could be at times and it bothered him to no end.

"Fine. Fine. Just be careful."

"I always am."

"The next photo is of a woman, Roxanne Dearhart." Adam flipped to a picture of a beautiful brunette woman laughing joyously with a redhead who had her back to the camera at the time. "She's a feral, wolf to be precise. Her family was murdered years ago when an angry mob came for her after she broke their star quarterback's arm on accident. She's too far gone and dedicated to Titans Among Mortals-"

"Titans Among Mortals?" Adam rolled his eyes.

"Yes. TAM for short. She's usually the one that recruits mutants to TAM and we think she'd be willing to fight to keep it together. She's strong Adam, and vicious. She put one of our men in the hospital because she thought he was a stalker. He's in a coma and might not wake up Adam."

The scientist shook his head. How had Selene even **met** these people?

"And lastly, the most dangerous of all -your friend. Miss Emma DeLauro." Adam sat up at that.

"What do you mean? I- I-"

"Adam, quiet. As I was saying, Miss DeLauro is in charge of herself again. We don't know how but we think Tal might have helped her with it, which is especially dangerous. It gives her a bond to him that might not be broken."

"How...?"

"You gave us a picture of both and told me the deal. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out Kane." Adam ran a hand through his hair as his mind raced. "Like I was saying, she's perhaps the most dangerous of them all. Her power level is endless as far as we can tell and what's worse is she can nearly control it. We have documented her using an illusionist's power, telempathy, and telekinesis."

Adam felt sick as his contact hung up the phone. There was no denying it now. He had to tell them.

* * *

Meanwhile back at TAM headquarters, Tal felt sick as well. Emma was describing the dream to him in so much detail it was like they were actually there. The only detail she missed was who her pursuer was, and for that, Tal was grateful. He had long known who it was and had no idea what Emma would do once she found out herself. Yell, cry, attack - anything could happen with her. She was a wild card to him and any wrong move could set her off. He personally didn't want to be around when that happened. 

"..And I know this is going to sound paranoid but -I feel like I know who it is that's following me. In the dream. It was familiar... yet new." She laughed lightly at herself. "That didn't make sense, did it?" He laughed and bumped her shoulder with his.

"Sure didn't. But I think I can understand you. But Emma," he turned her to face him. After making sure she was looking directly at him he said, "It was just a dream. Just remember that."

She shook her head. "No. Someone I know is after me Tal. I have to find out who, and why." She walked away and tossed a 'see ya later' over her shoulder before going towards town. Tal's stomach turned nervously before he made his way toward TAM.

* * *

"Adam, can we start already? We have better things to do than sit around here," Lexa muttered, looking pointedly at Brennan and Jesse when she did so. 

"No that's ok Adam, please. Take all the time you need." Jesse smiled nervously while shooting a pleading look at the older man.

"We'll begin once Shalimar gets here." Lexa sighed in annoyance while Brennan and Jesse bumped fists -the longer Shalimar took, the less time they'd have to decide on wedding things.

Adam straightened out his papers before moving to his computer and making sure it was ready. He just wanted to run through this and be done with it.

Footsteps hurried down the hall toward them and moments later, a red cheeked feral walked through the door toweling her face of sweat from her work out.

"What's up Adam? I was busy, you know?" She sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the couch Brennan was at and pointedly ignored him.

"Right..." He began to fidget but stopped and continued after taking a deep breath. "There's a group I want you all to know about. It's called 'Titans Among Mortals' or TAM for short." He clicked a remote in his hand, a projector came down from the ceiling, and a picture of the TAM HQ was shown on the wall. "Their deal is that mutants are better than people. That people are giving out 'cures' that not only stop the evolution of powers but actually harm them-"

"It's true though, right?" Everyone turned to Lexa with interest. "At the Dominion they were working on that. A few of the subjects went terribly wrong and they died once they stopped mutating. It was horrible..." Jesse reached over and pulled her into his lap. He placed a kiss on her temple before turning to Adam.

"Sounds to me like they have the right idea Adam. What's the problem?"

"The **problem**, Jesse, is that the group is run by Dominion. It's not anti-cure at all. In fact, I would say some of the 'subjects' that failed were part of TAM at first as well. TAM brainwashes them against people, then once they're fully on the Dominion's side they hand them over and start with a new batch." He clicked again and a classroom appeared with Tal at the front of it. The people in the class ranged from ages of about 14 to 30 and all were looking attentatively at the front. Tal's hands covered the face of the person from view and Adam hesitated slightly before speaking. "That wasn't even the worst thing."

There was a pause.

"Adam...," Brennan started warily, "what **is** the worst thing?" The scientist pressed the 'next' button before he could change his mind.

The picture changed and the one who was on the table was now by the window. Her long red hair fluttered with a breeze and a contemplative look was held on her face and in her blue eyes. Shalimar sat perfectly still. Suddenly the smell from before that she didn't know but did came back to her and her eyes flashed in rage.

There wasn't any warning before she lunged at the elemental and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "Did you sleep with her? **Did** you?" Jesse tried to pull her off but she swatted his hands away. She then slammed Brennan into a wall and he pried at her fingers frantically. "I said did you?"

"NO! NO I swear!"

"Don't lie to me!" She slammed him again before backing away with tears of rage in her eyes. "How could you..."

"Shalimar... I didn't...," he wheezed. His face twisted as a thought occurred to him. "I... Roxie. She said her name was Roxie... Oh Shalimar, I am **so** sorry - I didn't know. I swear I didn't know."

Her anger dissipated as she realized if Emma slept with him in another body it was still Emma's decision to do so in the first place. "How could **she** do this..?" Adam cut the silence that followed short clearing his throat.

"Actually, Roxanne Dearhart actually exists. She's not Emma. You didn't sleep with her. Moving on," he clicked the button and Tal showed up on screen. As Adam continued with his presentation, Shalimar tried to think of how to apologize to Brennan while Brennan tried to will Adam to speed up or let everyone take a break so he could put some ice on his neck. Jesse and Lexa ignored the other two so Adam would at least be talking to someone.

"...and that's pretty much everything. Any questions?"

"No, I think we're good Adam," Jesse offered after a moment.

"Ok then. So what do you guys propose we do?" Shalimar looked up at him startled and a little amused.

"What do you mean? We go get Emma, that's what we do."

"Shalimar... It's not that simple. For all we know she could be one of them-"

"No. We get her," Brennan interrupted. "We all need her back, but Shalimar especially." The elemental turned to the indignant feral. "Face it Shalimar, you've been lost without her. You miss her. You need your girlfriend back, and I need my best friend back."

There was a pause before Shalimar nodded her head in consent.

"He's right... I can't- Now that I know where she is, what kind of danger she could be in... I need her back Adam." Her eyes met the scientists and they stared defiantly at each other. Adam backed down first and ran a hand through his hair.

"All right, all right. Let's get ready then."

"Er... Right now?" Brennan shifted from foot to foot slightly.

"Yes right now. You suggested right now," Shalimar reminded him.

"Yeah... yeah but... I have an idea. I'm meeting Roxie for dinner tomorow night. I'll stop by this place and see if Emma's there, give her a little heads up or something. Tell her the place is rotten."  
There was a pause as Adam considered and Shalimar felt helpless with being left out of the decisions.

"All right. We'll go get her after you give her time to digest this." Shalimar let out something between a 'hmmph' and an angry curse before storming to her room. "Will someone talk to her?" Adam left the room as Brennan pointed to Jesse.

"Dude, why me?"

"Because you punched me. Besides, I got a date tonight." Brennan smoothed his hair and strutted out the room while Jesse sighed.


	31. Chapter 23

_"Don't be afraid, little one. Let me help you..." Her ears perked up at that. She knew that voice, knew it and now knew to fear it. The enemy trailed its fingers up her throat and she turned her head away from them. The fingers traced over her lips, around her nose, smoothed over her forehead and jaw line before moving back to her throat. _

_"So perfect... but so flawed..." In the light from the cabin behind her Emma could make out the attacker's face twisting in rage. "We could have fixed you."_

_Lightning flashed and she moved her gaze down to find herself staring into a pair of familiar eyes before the attacker jerked its hand roughly and she slumped to the ground._

_"But now you're just dead," the attacker whispered into a gust of howling wind._

Once again Emma bolted upright in her bed. Roxie was at the mirror applying her mascara and turned a curious glance back to her.

"Hey, you ok?" Concern flashed across the feral's face and she moved to sit next to Emma on the bed. Emma shook her head 'no' and Roxie wrapped an arm around her shoulder comfortingly while Emma spilled about the dream.

The dream had been getting more and more clear every time she had it. Facial features were now implanted in her mind when she woke up but as she fought to see them again they floated away. It didn't help that Tal had to go out of town after she told him yesterday morning while he was training. She'd taken a nap after spilling only to have the dream again.

The eyes that had lined the trees had more detail and Emma could make out at least two females she knew like the back of her hand, and others that just sort of blended together. Shalimar and Roxie were in the trees.

Emma didn't know why she didn't want to go in there, but during the dream it just didn't matter. All that mattered was survival.

A thought flitted through Emma's head before Roxie stood up and went back to the mirror. Emma noticed for the first time how dolled up Roxie was, even for her.

"Hey, where you goin'?" Roxie turned to her with a slight blush.

"I met someone." Emma's eyebrows went up at that. Roxie? Miss 'I hate to be tied down' had found someone?

"Well, what you waiting for? Spill!" Thoughts of the dream disappeared in the back of Emma's mind for the time being and Roxie sat back down on the bed. Emma was somewhat reminded of a slumber party back in middle school by the way Roxie was acting.

"Well, he's cute. Funny, charming... Tall, dark and handsome. Good in bed..." They both giggled at that. "He's an elemental and I met him in the club. I think you'd like him."

"Oh yeah? Whats his name?"

"Brennan." Emma's smile slowly faded as Roxie's eyes sparkled. "Brennan Mulwray. Such a good name, isn't it?" When Emma didn't agree Roxie finally noticed how melancholy she had become. "Em? Whats wrong?"

"Are you sure.. Are you positive that was who he was?" Roxie nodded eagerly but the concerned light in her eyes didn't diminish. "Why? Do you know him?" Roxie gasped slightly. "Is he the one you left behind? Oh Emma-"

"No, no. He was my best friend but I didn't leave him behind. Its just... I hadn't really had time to think of them for a while what with everything thats going on around here." Emma shrugged and forced out a smile. "But I'm glad for you! Brennan's a good guy. He even reads poetry." Roxie's eyebrows lifted and her eyes sparkled dreamily.

"How romantic..." Emma laughed at her friend kindly.

"So when are you to goin' out? Is he picking you up here? Or are you meeting somewhere?" Roxie smirked at the questions.

"Why, wanna talk to him? Because I could call him up and get him to pick me up here."

Emma thought for a second. If she let Brennan see her, her cover was blown. On the other hand, she missed them all so much she was beyond caring for that reason alone.

"Emma? Hellooooo," Roxie called while waving her hands before Emma's face.

"Oh, sorry." Emma quickly collected herself. "Could you call him? I miss him and the others..." Roxie didn't speak but whipped out her phone. Emma smiled nervously as butterflies danced in her stomach.

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hey sexy." Brennan smiled.

"Hey yourself."

There was a momentary pause before they both said, "I want to ask-" at the same time.

"You go."

"Ok then," Roxie replied. "I was wondering if you could pick me up tonight? My ride's car is in the shop."

Brennan smiled and resisted the urge to pump his fist in the air. "Sure thing, I'll swing by around 6:30 or so, all right?"

"Ok, see you later handsome." He smiled.

"Later beautiful." He closed his cell phone and went back to getting ready.

* * *

About 20 minutes later Brennan was in Jesse's car and nearly an hour later he had arrived at the facility. He glanced around as he got out of the car but quickly squashed that instinct.

The place was two stories tall and very well decorated. A well-kept garden was off to the right with a clean looking koi pond in the center of it. He let out a low whistle as he walked inside. He was met with a reception area that wasn't being used as anything but a plant holder.

A few younger people passed by him, the young women checking him out before giggling with their friends about how hot he looked. He stopped them and casually asked where Roxie was and set off to find her after they spilled.

He knocked on her door and his mind turned over possible ideas for tracking Emma down -questions to ask, excuses to make for exploring the place. The door opened and all thoughts ceased as he took in his date.

"Come on in Bren," she said as she rose up to kiss him on the cheek. "I have to find my purse quick but maybe my roommate can keep you busy." He finally turned his dazed stare from Roxie to the woman on the other bed in the room only to feel conflicting emotions run through him.

There sat Emma, his best friend, just as nervous as he was. _'She knew...'_ He stopped thinking and crossed the room. She stood up as he reached her and he grabbed her up in a heartfelt hug. Roxie snickered at the scene before going into the bathroom. Brennan checked over his shoulder to see if she was still there before putting Emma down and sitting with her on the bed.

"Oh Emma, you have no idea how much I've - **we've** - missed you." He lowered his voice. "Shalimar wanted to come but Adam's making her stay and settle down. Between you and me, I think he should have let her." Guilt and pain flashed through Emma's eyes.

"Brennan, I'm sor-" Roxie dropped something in the bathroom and Brennan hushed Emma.

"Shhhhh... Look, Adam wanted me to tell you that this place -TAM -it's dangerous. I can't tell you much more right now but you need to know that." Emma looked startled but forced out a smile as Roxie came back from the other room.

"Ready to go?" she asked brightly.

Brennan smiled just as widely back. "Sure am. See you later Em." The redhead nodded with a smile that disappeared as soon as they left. Now what had she gotten herself into?


	32. Chapter 24

Brennan was still tingling from his latest date with Roxie. Despite what Adam had told him about her being a dangerous woman, he found he enjoyed her company immensely. He was suddenly aware of voices ahead and tensed.

"Adam it isn't fair!" That was Shalimar.

"Sha-" And that was Adam.

"No! No, you won't tell me what to do anymore. I want to go to her and damnit -I will!"

Every time he went on a date and came back, it was the same thing. Shalimar was always seething with rage at Adam but would turn and demand answers of him as soon as he got back. Now, for instance, the feral dropped her argument and dragged him back to her room for what he called 'The Shalimar Inquisition.'

It didn't bother him so much anymore; the only thing that bugged him was the fact that Emma was the same way - 'The Emma Evaluation.' Every time he told Shalimar that, he'd have to spend at least 20 minutes convincing her to stay, telling her that they didn't know enough to take her away yet. They didn't even know where the ringleader - Tal - was at for the past week, which Brennan was silently thankful for. Emma had taken to sharing things with him because of that in the few minutes they had before Roxie was ready to go. Sometimes they met at the movies or something and they'd both be better able to describe their situation with more detail.

Her dreams were becoming more and more frequent, and Emma was convinced something was coming. It was making the psionic paranoid beyond belief about pretty much every little 'omen' she saw and the people she knew she now was beginning to see as the 'enemy.' It was tearing Brennan apart to see her like that and he was frankly running out of ideas to keep her calm.

Adam was no help either. The scientist spent all his time using contacts to get more information on TAM and was rarely available for much else. The hunt for Tal was one of Adam's biggest concerns at the moment and - short of cutting off his hand to get Adam to sew it back on - there wasn't much Brennan could do to get his attention.

Jesse was stressed as well - something you wouldn't know by looking at him. Comforting Shalimar and planning this wedding was seriously taking its toll on him and he had little time to relax anymore it seemed. Brennan sort of got the feeling these days that the usually good-natured buddy of his was silently angry that the elemental was always gone when the trouble started - like the kid who would run from home before his parents would start arguing and only come home when it was over.

Lexa didn't really seem affected at all aside from helping Jesse and Adam with little things. Every now and then she would come to Brennan and ask for advice for the wedding, sometimes she'd help Adam with research or to keep Shalimar busy while Brennan and Jesse were both doing some other thing. She didn't once complain and Brennan was always slightly envious of what a catch Jesse had landed in her.

"Brennan? Are you ignoring me?" He shook his head quickly.

"Sorry, just thinking. What was that again?"

The feral sighed before leaving his room.

* * *

The blonde soon found herself pacing in the room that still screamed of her girlfriend.

_'It's not fair... he can go to her as he pleases but I can't? It's not fair...'_ Shalimar moved to her window and glared at the world. _'And why can't I go? Because Adam told me not to...'_ She looked to see how far off the ground she was. _'As the Bible says, Screw that!'_ She didn't hesitate a second before her foot was through the screen. It stuck irritably to her leg before she pushed it off and watched it seem to float slowly to the ground. She hit the dirt before it and quickly moved towards the garage and the new motorcycle she stored in it. She couldn't wait anymore - she had to see Emma. Tonight.

* * *

"Tell me again how this happened... Tal..." The figure was clouded in shadow but the wild hair was unmistakable.

"I'm not sure, sir. It just sort of came outta left field-"

"You've said that already, Tal. Tell me how you allowed a member of Mutant X to get close to Miss DeLauro." Tal said nothing. "Hmm... I suppose it isn't entirely your fault. I did, after all, call you away at the last moment for an update. And I have kept you here after overhearing DeLauro's dreams." He shook his head wistfully. "She's so close yet she doesn't even know it." His tongue clucked against the roof of his mouth.

"What do you want me to do?"

"What do I want you to do? I want you to tell Dearhart that Mulwray is an enemy spy that works for the people who once captured and tortured Emma. That's what I want you to do."

Tal nodded. "Yes sir." He stood there waiting for a dismissal.

"Quickly Gregorovich. Quickly." Tal nodded again and was gone, thinking of ways to tell Roxie about Brennan as he walked to his car.

* * *

Shalimar shut the engine of her motorcycle off before removing her helmet. The night was dark and chilly but the facility before her still had most of its lights on. She slipped her keys into her pocket and, after a moment of thought, walked boldly up to the front door of the place. No one was in the reception area so the feral decided to just take a walk until she found Emma.

After passing the same water bubbler 3 times she finally found the right hallway and padded down it. It didn't take long for her to catch Emma's scent and after she did, she sped up her pace. The blonde licked her lips nervously outside what she assumed was the right door before carefully pushing it open.

Moonlight cascaded in shafts across Emma's face and Shalimar shut the door behind her to keep from waking the sleeping beauty. Shalimar took a step forward only to be instantly slammed against the wall by a previously unseen assailant with angry yellow eyes.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" was hissed at Shalimar. Roxie. Shal had forgotten about Roxie.

The blonde smacked Roxie's arm off her shoulder and her own eyes flashed in warning to let the other woman know there would be no fooling around. Emma stirred on the bed but they went still and she slid back into sleep. Roxie clapped her hand over Shalimar's mouth and dragged the surprised feral from the room roughly. As soon as they were in the hallway Shalimar jabbed an elbow backwards and Roxie let go with a gasp. They took up fighting positions opposite each other and glared angrily.

"I'll ask again: who are you and what did you think you were gonna do to her, huh?" Shalimar's teeth gritted at the protectiveness in Roxie's voice.

"Fuck you; it's none of your business..." She trailed off as she thought she heard shuffling footsteps behind her but when she turned there was no one there. As soon as her back was turned Roxie attacked, striking her in the stomach then punching her across the face before the other woman had time to react. When she did react however, Shalimar caught Roxie's knee before it hit her in the face and used her sudden advantage to send Roxie to the ground, hard.

"This doesn't concern you, **Roxanne**." The other feral blinked before lashing her foot at Shalimar with a cry of rage. Shal jumped over her legs but Roxie scissored them back and tripped Shalimar to the ground. They both rolled away from each other and flipped to take up fighting positions again when the door next to them opened. A sleepy eyed psionic poked her head out to see what was going on.

"Roxie? I think it's far too late to be-e!" Emma yelped as Roxie yanked the redhead behind her. "Hey! What -" Emma trailed off as she stared at Shalimar. Shalimar stared back. Roxie blinked.

"Em?" Shalimar took a tentative step forward and Roxie tensed. A hand on the brunette's arm stilled her immediately and she turned her head to look at Emma. Silent communication flowed through them and Roxie cast a warning glance at Shalimar before going back to the room leaving Emma and Shalimar alone in the hallway.

"Oh my god... Shalimar - Is it really you?" Emma reached out a hand and Shalimar grabbed it tightly while stepping closer. They were less than a foot apart now and Emma placed her other hand on Shalimar's cheek. Both women's eyes misted with tears and they silently closed the distance between them with a passionate kiss.

* * *

"Shalimar?" Jesse knocked on his friend's door. "Shal? I wanted to know if you'd like to grab something to eat with me while the others are," he pushed open the door and paused, "busy?" He pushed the door open more and his eyes sought out the feral in earnest.

_'Maybe she's in the shower?_' He quickly pressed his ear to the bathroom door and, when he heard nothing, opened it fully. He cursed under his breath before walking briskly down the hallway to tell Adam that she had gone - most likely to Emma. He cursed again for not being able to tell the feral that security cameras in the airport had spotted Tal earlier.

Jesse checked his watch and - upon seeing the time - began to jog. It had been just under 2 hours since Tal had landed and would most likely already be at TAM now.

-

**A/N:** Guess the reference I put in here and you get brownie points. : )


	33. Chapter 25

Tal walked determinedly towards Emma and Roxie's room but stopped dead as he saw the psionic making out with some - **woman** -in front of the door. His teeth gritted and his face twisted with rage at the site. He didn't hesitate a second when he sent a psi beam at the redhead, effectively knocking her out.

Emma fell limp in Shalimar's arms and the feral began to panic. Tal began to jog towards the room.

"Let her go!" The feral looked up at him confused but held Emma tighter when she recognized him. "I said let her go! Put her down now!" The door next to them opened and Roxie stepped out. She quickly assessed the 'situation' and punched Shalimar in the temple which forced the blonde to fall half on top of Emma.

Roxie shoved Shalimar off of Emma before stooping to scoop the redhead up in her arms. "Emma? Wake up, Emma." Tal finally reached them and took Emma from Roxie.

"You pick up her," he nodded towards Shalimar, "and we'll get them both to the doctor, ok?" Roxie just nodded and handed over Emma. Tal strode quickly off towards the exit of the facility. After Roxie reluctantly picked up Shalimar she followed him and was surprised at the helicopter waiting for them. Her pace slowed down to look at it but Tal yelling for her snapped her out of her daze and she started running towards it.

"Roxie no!" She turned as she reached helicopter at last to see Brennan running towards her. "Get away from there!" Two other people followed behind him and she felt herself tugged into the helicopter.

"Come on, Rox!" It was Tal urging her up that got her going again. She cast one last glance at Brennan - the man she had actually considered 'going steady' with - before her trust and the feeling of obligation to Tal and all he stood for made up her mind.

The helicopter was already in the air before Brennan reached it.

"Damn it!" Brennan screamed as he watched the chopper disappear over the roof of the buildings. Lexa caught up with him and Adam followed behind her a few seconds later.

"Jess, they're heading south in a helicopter," she said loudly into her com-pendant.

"On it." Brennan's hands clenched and unclenched into fists as they waited for Jesse with the Helix 2 - the recently finished new version of the first Helix.

"It's all my fault..." Lexa rubbed up and down his bicep to try and calm him down some.

"Bren, you had no way to know Shal would so something like this. It's not your fault."

"She's right Brennan - it's mine," Adam stated without hesitation. Lexa rolled her eyes.

"How about we stop playing the blame game and get on already?" Jesse yelled in their ears as the Helix lowered to hover beside them. "I've got a lock on them for now but the farther they get the harder it'll be," he informed as they all climbed onto the plane. He pushed a few buttons and the chopper shone in a red-ish light about half a mile away from them.

"Can we catch up to them Jesse?" Lexa asked. He grinned at her.

"Do you really have to ask?" He pushed another button and the door on the plane shut. They were shooting through the air seconds later.

When Shalimar woke up, she didn't know where she was. When she opened her eyes, she had to immediately close them again because of the bright light shining into them.

"Oh, what's the matter? Sleepy? Well, we'll just have to wake you up then, won't we?" Shalimar let out a surprised yelp as ice cold water was splashed onto her. Tiny prickles of pain exploded everywhere the water touched and she was shivering in mere seconds. She bowed her head so her hair would fall into her eyes before attempting to open them again.

"Wh-where am-m I?" Her teeth chattered uncontrollably.

"You're here, and that's all that matters." Tal stepped forward into the light and set his now empty bucket onto the ground. As soon as the feral saw him she found she remembered what had happened.

"Where's Em-ma?" She lunged forward only to find herself restrained.

"Safe. For now, anyway. If you cooperate, nothing will happen to her. If you don't... well - I'm sure you know what we can do." Shalimar froze immediately at the threat. "Good kitty." He smiled a shark's grin before stepping forward. "Now, let's see what makes you...," his hand moved to the left to take the cloth off the top of a small metal table Shalimar had previously overlooked, "tick." Her heart slammed in her chest and her blood ran cold as she looked over the various sharp, metal objects that lined the table before her. She silently screamed at herself for not listening to Adam.

_Meanwhile..._

Emma sat up with a gasp. Roxie smiled at her relieved and tried to calm the wild-eyed psionic.

"Emma, it's ok. She's gone-" Roxie cut herself off as Emma grabbed her arm tightly.

"What? Where? Take me to her!" Emma swung her legs off the bed and stood up without waiting for an answer.

"What?" Roxie blinked at her confused. "Emma, she **attacked** you!"

"**No** she didn't! I got hit from behind, Roxie. Shalimar was in front of me - you can believe me on that one."

Roxie's mind raced. The only one that was behind her was Tal, and Tal would **never** hurt Emma - or any of the others for that matter. Roxie shook her head. Her mind then turned to Emma - probably her best friend aside from Tal. One of them had to be lying. But which one?

"Roxie! Where is she?" Roxie shook her head.

"She's here, but I won't take you to her," she offered as a compromise. Emma shot her a hurt and confused look before running from the room. Roxie felt a pain in her head as her subconscious berated her for not helping more as she walked over to the phone on the wall. She punched in the extension for the room she wanted and waited patiently.

"Tal? Emma's escaped. She used her powers on me - I think she's headed to you."

_Also meanwhile..._

The guard fell to the ground in a heap and Brennan jumped over him quickly. Lexa grabbed the key card from around his neck and shoved it into the door. Brennan forced the door open roughly and Lexa and Jesse followed him quickly.

"Which way, Adam?" Jesse said into his pendant.

"I'm not sure. There are so many hallways.. give me a minute." Brennan made an annoyed sound and started running down the nearest hall to him.

"Wait!"

"No! We don't have time!" he yelled back.

"Adam, hurry up will ya?"

"Jesse you know these things take time!"

"Which we don't have..." Lexa said before choosing another hallway and running down it.

"Adam!"

"Got it! Take the leftmost hallway guys." Jesse sighed before running down the right hall. Neither of the others had picked it which meant they were officially separated.

Tal had just picked up a particularly mean looking scalpel when the phone rang. Shalimar sighed in relief when he went to answer it.

"What!" he yelled just moments after picking it up. He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Ok ok. I'll go find her." He hung up angrily and kept his back to her for a few precious seconds that allowed her to slip the scalpel under her arm. It poked at her but she kept the pain off of her face.

"You've lucked out, girl. But when I get back I'll just have to make up for lost time." He moved toward the door and opened it roughly before stalking out.

Once the blonde was sure he was gone she began to work on her bindings with the scalpel. She was halfway through it when the door opened again. She tried to force her hand to break through it but the binding held strong. When she looked up defiantly at the person who came through the door she let out a sigh.

"Shalimar?" Jesse moved forward and began to help her take the bindings off. In minutes they were gone and she was free.

"Where's Emma?" He shook his head to indicate he didn't know and she sighed in agitation. "Let's go get her then."

Lexa slipped into the control room she'd found easily as the guard who had been manning it left. When she saw the room was empty she became visible again and grabbed a chair to wedge in front of the door. A quick scan of the cameras showed Jesse and Shalimar walking down one hallway, and Brennan walking down another. She frantically searched them for a few moment before spotting Emma - and Tal. He was close to her as she stood stock still and he didn't look too happy.

Brennan was closest to her so Lexa told him through the pendant which way to go just as Tal laid his hand on Emma's neck. The molecular silently prayed Brennan was good at following directions.

Emma ran through the corridors blindly. After a few minutes she determined she was truly lost but didn't give up - until she walked into a room occupied by Tal. It was pretty dark in the room but she could see him almost perfectly.

"Hello Emma." He stepped forward into the light and Emma was suddenly reminded of a dark and stormy night - of running from a beast. Her head shook from side to side before stilling completely.

She sent a psi beam at him only to have it go right through him. The room was instantly filled with dozens of him surrounding her in a circle. She couldn't tell which one was him and she turned in circles, panicked.

"Don't be afraid, Emma." She couldn't tell which one said it. The circle stepped forward and her eyes darted between the ones before her. She felt paralyzed with fear as she awaited them to take her. The one directly before her placed his hand on her throat and the others disappeared. The hand trailed over her neck, up her cheek, over her nose and lips.

_'This is my dream!'_ she shouted inside. She knew how that ended and yet couldn't do anything to stop this.

"We could have helped you Emma..." His face twisted and his hand whipped back to her throat. "But now," his grip tightened around her and she felt her airflow cut off, "you're just-" He jerked spasmodically and let go of her before falling to the floor.

As Emma caught her breath she looked up to see her rescuer - Brennan. She ran and threw her arms around his neck and he hugged her back.

"I thought-"

"Shh... it's ok Emma. It's over now. Let's go meet up with the others-" The warning shouted in his ear came to late and he suddenly found himself in a dark jungle. He spun frantically. "This isn't real, this isn't real...," he repeated to himself.

Emma spun to find Tal standing with a maniacal gleam in his eye. "What did you do to him?" she asked as she watched Brennan begin to scream in terror.

"Does it matter? You won't be around to save him anyway." He plucked a knife from his belt an moved towards her. He lunged forward and she leapt to the side but it didn't matter - he'd gotten her across the arm and now she was bleeding freely. He laughed evilly. "It's ok Emma... It'll all be over soon." He leaned down and held her hands above her head with one of his own. He raised the knife over his head but before he could bring it down into her heart there were two loud bangs.

Blood spattered onto Emma's face as she watched him drop the knife. His grip on her hands slackened as he slumped forward and she pushed him off of her. Blood soaked her hands and she stared at them in a daze before looking to the doorway. Roxanne was there with a 9 mm hanging limply from her hand. It fell as Tal's skin began to grow pale.

Brennan climbed to his feet as he heard Lexa shouting in his ear to get them out of there. He offered Emma his hand and yanked her up on shaky legs. She wobbled over to Roxie and after a moment of hesitation hugged her tightly. He came up behind them and gently guided them out the door.


	34. Epilogue

Hours later they were all situated in the living area of the Sanctuary: Jesse with his arm around Lexa on the couch; Shalimar with both her arms wrapped securely around Emma's waist on one of the chairs and Emma was smiling as she cuddled into the feral's lap; Adam was fidgeting in the back of the room while trying to decide whether to butt in and ask Emma to let him take some tests to make sure she was alright, but the protective gleam in Shalimar's eyes made him rethink that idea; Brennan was leaning against the wall next to Roxie to keep an eye on her.

The brunette feral sighed before walking from the room and Brennan hurried to follow her. Adam took them leaving a cue and left himself. After a moment, Jesse and Lexa bid goodnight to Emma and Shalimar before heading off to bed. The women left in the room laughed when they heard Lexa mention the band options for the wedding before Shalimar scooped Emma up and brought her back to her - their - room.

"Roxie, wait!" The feral stopped but didn't turn to Brennan.

"What is it?"

"Well... where are you going?" he asked, confused. She shrugged.

"I'm not sure, I just can't stay here."

He blinked. "Why not? You're welcome to stay, you heard Adam-"

"I can't stay Brennan!" she cried. "How can I stay in this place when the others need me? They need someone to help them, Brennan, and if TAM is run by Dominion like that guy says, then I need to be there to help them." He bowed his head slightly in a nod and she sighed. "Bren... I'm sorry but - I have to be there for them. I can't just leave them to be snapped up by the Dominion. I wouldn't be able to live here, with you and the others, and be happy knowing they were all carted off to be lab rats." He nodded more noticeably.

"Alright, well, when can I see you again?" There was a long pause before she shrugged.

"I don't know... Taking care of all of them has to be my first priority Brennan. I can't ignore their need for safety, Brennan."

"What are you saying, Roxie?" he asked slowly.

"I'm saying... I have no idea if or when I'll be able to see you Brennan." His jaw clenched rhythmically.

"So you're breaking up with me?" She nodded with tears in her eyes. "Ok... I - I guess I can handle that." She reached up and hugged him tightly before walking quickly away. He stood there watching her until she disappeared through the garage.

* * *

Brennan never did see Roxie again. When she went back to TAM, she stayed there. The others and her fought off the Dominion until it finally just threw its hands in the air and gave up. He tried to call her after he heard about that, but as it turned out she had already found someone else to be with. He had moped about the Sanctuary for about a week before finding another girl to date.

Emma and Shalimar had moved out of Sanctuary to get a place of their own not long after Emma came back. They had claimed it was simply because of the lack of space the small room gave them but everybody could tell it was because they felt uncomfortable being 'together' with their friends on either side of them.

Jesse and Lexa soon followed their example, but not before having the most spectacular wedding any of MX had attended.

Adam bought the TAM building from the Dominion so he could spend as much time as possible helping mutants develop and control their abilities without false cures offered by the Dominion.

All in all, they were all happy as a team again, and they lived happily ever after.

The End.

-

**A/N:** Lame ending I know, but I couldn't think of anything good to say.


End file.
